Alyssa Healy has delivered brilliant consecutive centuries to guide her team into the last four of the World Cup, motivating them to a commanding 10-wicket trouncing over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113, coming just a few days after her similarly stellar 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an undefeated double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to race to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 overs.
“I thought I was a below par with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo put on 202 runs followed perhaps the team's poorest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for spilling a couple of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately succeeded,” she added.
Since data was first recorded on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the six dropped catches marked the team's worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll review,” the captain commented.
It helped the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their highest total in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was vital to ensuring the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Seals Semi-Final Spot
Healy was thrilled to learn that the victory, which places her unbeaten side at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with Maiden World Cup Fifty
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries soon after her partner reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, Healy dropped the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clean catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the official turned down their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Stars
Instead, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by King, whose spell could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the total was rendered straightforward by a side who had successfully pursued 330 against the Indian side four days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said star performer Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate going back to Indore to face the English team and the Proteas.”
