Alyssa Healy has produced outstanding back-to-back centuries to steer her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a merciless comprehensive win over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113, arriving just a few days after her equally impressive 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an undefeated double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to chase to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and perhaps a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the duo added 202 runs followed possibly the team's weakest performance in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for dropping a couple of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily got the job done,” Healy continued.
From the time data was initially taken on fielding metrics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities represented Australia’s worst fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” Healy commented.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their highest total in an ODI against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding continuous ten-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was key to making sure the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Pleased with Win that Confirms Knockout Place
Healy was pleased to learn that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten team at the top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That's great news,” she said.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from her partner in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Shines with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries soon after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-highest stand by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy spilled the simplest of edges off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a tough lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also take a clear chance off Brown but failed to review when the umpire rejected their shout.
The recalled Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as King Stars
In contrast, the spinners excelled, led by King, whose spell could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the total was rendered straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate returning to Indore to face the English team and the Proteas.”
