Alyssa Healy has delivered brilliant consecutive hundreds to guide her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a dominant comprehensive win over their opponents.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her equally impressive 142 that saw off hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to race to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I thought I was a below par with the gloves, and probably a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo put on 202 came after perhaps the team's weakest display in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for dropping two of the six chances that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and luckily got the job done,” she added.
From the time data was first taken on fielding statistics in 2013, the six missed opportunities marked Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” Healy said.
This allowed Bangladesh to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever total in an ODI against Australia, with a key batter scoring the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But Alana King mesmeric continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was vital to ensuring Australia’s target remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Win that Confirms Knockout Place
Healy was delighted to learn that the victory, which puts her unbeaten side top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from her partner in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with First Tournament Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her first World Cup fifty off 46 balls shortly after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy spilled the easiest of chances off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clean catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the team's most expensive bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's not out 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the total was made to look straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side four days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate returning to Indore to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
