Alyssa Healy has delivered brilliant back-to-back hundreds to steer her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a merciless comprehensive win over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113, coming just four days after her equally brilliant 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an undefeated double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) to dash to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a not at my best with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of the day's run-chase as the duo put on 202 followed possibly Australia’s poorest display in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for spilling a couple of the half-dozen chances that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily got the job done,” she added.
Since statistics was initially recorded on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the six dropped catches represented the team's poorest 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 reflect on,” the captain said.
It helped the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was crucial to ensuring the team's target remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Seals Knockout Place
Healy was delighted to discover that the triumph, which places her unbeaten team top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from her partner in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with First World Cup Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her first tournament fifty off 46 balls shortly after Healy got there off 43. They went on to record the third-best stand by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain dropped the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a tough lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire rejected their shout.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowler, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took the team to their record total against the Aussies, but the total was rendered straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side a few days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We look forward to going back to Indore to take on England and South Africa.”
