Alyssa Healy has delivered brilliant consecutive hundreds to guide her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, motivating them to a dominant comprehensive victory over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113, arriving just a few days after her equally stellar 142 that saw off the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to dash to their target of 199 in just under 25 overs.
“I thought I was a below par behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of the day's run-chase as the duo added 202 came after possibly the team's poorest display in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the captain scolding herself in especial for spilling two of the half-dozen chances that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily delivered,” she added.
Since data was first taken on fielding metrics in 2013, the half-dozen missed catches represented the team's poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” Healy commented.
This allowed Bangladesh to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever total in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken ten-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was key to making sure the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
Healy was pleased to discover that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten side top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from her partner in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 fours and a six, reaching to her first tournament fifty off 46 balls soon after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, the captain dropped the simplest of edges off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clean catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the official rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down the fastest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their record score against the Aussies, but the target was rendered easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India four days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate going back to Indore to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
