Alyssa Healy has produced brilliant consecutive centuries to lead her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, inspiring them to a dominant comprehensive win over their opponents.
Healy finished not out on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her equally brilliant 142-run knock that defeated hosts India at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to dash to their goal of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and probably a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the win and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s chase as the pair added 202 runs came after possibly Australia’s poorest display in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for spilling a couple of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately got the job done,” Healy continued.
Since statistics was first recorded on fielding statistics in 2013, the six missed opportunities marked Australia’s poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” the captain commented.
It helped the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their highest total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous 10-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was crucial to making sure the team's chase remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was delighted to discover that the triumph, which puts her undefeated team at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her first tournament half-century off 46 balls soon after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, the captain dropped the easiest of chances off a teammate and also failed to grasp a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the target was made to look easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India a few days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to Indore to face the English team and the Proteas.”
