Alyssa Healy has delivered brilliant back-to-back hundreds to guide her team into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a merciless comprehensive trouncing over Bangladesh.
Healy finished unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just four days after her equally impressive 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to chase to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a not at my best with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo put on 202 runs followed perhaps Australia’s weakest performance in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for spilling a couple of the half-dozen chances that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily got the job done,” she added.
From the time data was first taken on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the half-dozen missed catches marked Australia’s worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.
This allowed Bangladesh to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with a key batter compiling the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was key to ensuring the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Seals Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was delighted to discover that the victory, which puts her unbeaten side at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper 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 accelerated from her partner later in the innings after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden Tournament Fifty
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, getting to her first World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries soon after Healy got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, Healy dropped the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire rejected their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ most expensive bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their record score against the Australians, but the total was rendered easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate returning to Indore to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
