Alyssa Healy has executed brilliant consecutive centuries to steer her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, driving them to a merciless comprehensive victory over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113, coming just four days after her similarly brilliant 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to race to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 overs.
“I felt I was a below par behind the stumps, and probably a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of the day's chase as the pair put on 202 runs followed perhaps the team's poorest performance in the field under the captain's leadership, with the captain scolding herself in especial for spilling a couple of the half-dozen chances that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily got the job done,” she added.
From the time data was initially taken on fielding metrics in 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities marked Australia’s worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll review,” Healy said.
It helped the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest score in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken ten-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was vital to ensuring the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Pleased with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was pleased to learn that the triumph, which places her undefeated side at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the tournament, 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 shot for shot towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with First Tournament Fifty
Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her first World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries soon after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-best stand by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain spilled the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the official turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's not out 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the target was made to look straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked star performer King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to Indore to face England and South Africa.”
