Alyssa Healy has produced brilliant consecutive hundreds to lead her squad into the last four of the World Cup, motivating them to a merciless 10-wicket victory over Bangladesh.
Healy remained not out on 113 runs, coming just four days after her similarly stellar 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the same Vizag venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their goal of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and probably a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of the day's chase as the duo put on 202 runs came after possibly Australia’s shoddiest display in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for spilling two of the six catches that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately got the job done,” she added.
From the time statistics was initially recorded on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches marked Australia’s worst fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” the captain said.
This allowed the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she took 2-18 with four maidens, was key to ensuring Australia’s target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was pleased to discover that the victory, which places her unbeaten team at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and a six, reaching to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 balls shortly after Healy got there off 43. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain dropped the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clean chance off Brown but failed to review when the official rejected their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was still the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the spinners thrived, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Other spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the total was rendered easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 against the Indian side a few days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked star performer King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate going back to the next venue to take on the English team and South Africa.”
