Alyssa Healy has produced outstanding back-to-back hundreds to lead her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a dominant 10-wicket trouncing over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113, arriving just a few days after her equally brilliant 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to race to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a below par with the gloves, and probably a bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll take the win and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the duo put on 202 runs followed perhaps Australia’s shoddiest performance in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for spilling a couple of the half-dozen chances that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and luckily succeeded,” she added.
Since data was initially taken on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches marked the team's worst fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” the captain said.
This allowed the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was key to making sure Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Place
Healy was pleased to discover that the victory, which puts her unbeaten team at the 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 really cool,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Shines with Maiden Tournament Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 balls soon after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy dropped the easiest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to hold on to a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowler, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as King Stars
Instead, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to 13.
A batter's 44 and another's not out 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record total against the Australians, but the target was rendered straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against India a few days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked star performer Alana King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to Indore to face the English team and South Africa.”
