Alyssa Healy has delivered superb back-to-back hundreds to guide her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, driving them to a commanding comprehensive victory over their opponents.
Healy finished not out on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her equally stellar 142 that saw off hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to race to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I thought I was a below par behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of the day's chase as the pair put on 202 runs followed possibly the team's shoddiest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for dropping two of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately got the job done,” Healy continued.
Since statistics was initially recorded on fielding statistics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities represented Australia’s worst fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” the captain commented.
This allowed the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever score in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maidens, was crucial to making sure the team's target remained manageable.
Healy Pleased with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Place
Healy was thrilled to discover that the victory, which places her undefeated side at the top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden Tournament Fifty
Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, getting to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 balls shortly after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain dropped the easiest of chances off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a tough skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clean chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire rejected their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the team's most expensive bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, led by 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 (two for 22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record score against the Aussies, but the target was rendered easy meat by a side who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate going back to the next venue to take on England and the Proteas.”
