Alyssa Healy has delivered outstanding consecutive centuries to lead her team into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a commanding comprehensive win over Bangladesh.
Healy finished not out on 113, coming just a few days after her equally brilliant 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) to race to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and probably a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the duo put on 202 followed perhaps Australia’s poorest display in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for spilling 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 batting, and luckily got the job done,” Healy continued.
From the time statistics was initially taken on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches marked the team's poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” Healy commented.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their highest score in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was vital to ensuring the team's chase remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was delighted to learn that the victory, which places her undefeated side at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with First World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her first World Cup half-century off 46 balls soon after Healy reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, Healy dropped the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean catch off Brown but failed to review when the umpire rejected their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the team's costliest bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her total to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's not out 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record total against the Aussies, but the target was rendered straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 against India 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 King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to Indore to face the English team and South Africa.”
