Alyssa Healy has executed brilliant consecutive hundreds to lead her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, motivating them to a commanding comprehensive win over their opponents.
Healy finished not out on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her similarly brilliant 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to dash to their target of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I thought I was a below par with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo put on 202 followed possibly Australia’s weakest display in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for dropping two of the half-dozen chances that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and fortunately succeeded,” she added.
From the time data was initially taken on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches marked the team's worst fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” Healy said.
It helped Bangladesh to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever total in an ODI against Australia, with a key batter scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was key to ensuring the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was thrilled to discover that the victory, which places her unbeaten side at the top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The experienced skipper sped to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest century of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with First Tournament Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her first tournament half-century off 46 balls shortly after her partner got there off 43. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain dropped the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clear catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their shout.
The recalled Darcie Brown sent down the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the team's costliest bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Stars
In contrast, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's not out 66 off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the target was rendered straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 against India four days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to face the English team and South Africa.”
