Alyssa Healy has delivered brilliant back-to-back hundreds to guide her team into the last four of the World Cup, driving them to a dominant 10-wicket victory over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113, coming just a few days after her equally impressive 142 that saw off hosts India at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an undefeated 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84no) to chase to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 overs.
“I thought I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of the day's chase as the pair added 202 came after possibly the team's poorest performance in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for dropping a couple of the half-dozen chances that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily delivered,” Healy continued.
From the time data was initially recorded on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the six missed opportunities marked the team's poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” the captain commented.
This allowed Bangladesh to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken ten-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was vital to making sure Australia’s target remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Win that Confirms Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was delighted to learn that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten team top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The 35-year-old skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden Tournament Fifty
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding display, Healy spilled the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clean catch off Brown but failed to review when the official turned down their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, led by King, whose spell could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record score against the Aussies, but the total was made to look easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against the Indian side four days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” said star performer Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate returning to Indore to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
