Alyssa Healy has executed brilliant consecutive hundreds to guide her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a commanding comprehensive victory over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her similarly stellar 142 that defeated the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to chase to their target of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of the day's run-chase as the duo added 202 runs followed possibly Australia’s weakest performance in the field under the captain's leadership, with the captain scolding herself in particular for spilling a couple of the six catches 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 luckily succeeded,” Healy continued.
Since data was first recorded on fielding metrics in 2013, the six missed opportunities marked Australia’s poorest fielding display 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 review,” Healy said.
It helped Bangladesh to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their highest score in an One-Day International against Australia, with a key batter scoring the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding continuous 10-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was crucial to making sure the team's target remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Seals Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was pleased to learn that the victory, which puts her unbeaten team top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The 35-year-old skipper sped to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from her partner later in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with First Tournament Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 balls shortly after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-highest stand by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy dropped the easiest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Leads
Instead, the spinners excelled, led by King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Other spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the total was made to look easy meat by a side who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side four days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to take on the English team and South Africa.”
