Alyssa Healy has produced brilliant back-to-back centuries to guide her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, motivating them to a commanding comprehensive trouncing over Bangladesh.
Healy finished unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her equally impressive 142 that saw off the Indian team at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to dash to their target of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s chase as the pair put on 202 runs followed perhaps the team's poorest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for dropping two of the six chances that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and luckily delivered,” Healy continued.
From the time data was initially recorded on fielding metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities marked Australia’s worst fielding showing 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 analyze,” Healy said.
This allowed the opposition 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 compiling the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken ten-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was crucial to making sure the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Seals Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was pleased to learn that the victory, which places her undefeated team at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred 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 innings after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden World Cup Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her first tournament half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain spilled the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown sent down the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the competition's top wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to 13.
A batter's 44 and another's not out 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record total against the Aussies, but the target was made to look straightforward by a side who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked star performer Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to Indore to face the English team and the Proteas.”
