Alyssa Healy has produced superb back-to-back hundreds to steer her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, motivating them to a merciless 10-wicket victory over their opponents.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her similarly brilliant 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to chase to their target of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and probably a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the utmost professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the pair added 202 followed perhaps Australia’s weakest display in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for dropping two of the half-dozen chances that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and fortunately delivered,” she added.
From the time statistics was initially taken on fielding metrics in 2013, the half-dozen missed catches represented Australia’s poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” Healy said.
This allowed Bangladesh to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was key to ensuring Australia’s target remained manageable.
Healy Pleased with Win that Seals Semi-Final Place
Healy was delighted to learn that the triumph, which places her undefeated side at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a place in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from her partner later in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with Maiden World Cup Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 balls soon after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, Healy spilled the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clean chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as King Leads
In contrast, the spinners excelled, led by King, whose spell could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the total was rendered easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to the next venue to face the English team and the Proteas.”
