Alyssa Healy has executed outstanding consecutive hundreds to lead her squad into the last four of the World Cup, inspiring them to a dominant 10-wicket victory over Bangladesh.
Healy finished not out on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her equally impressive 142 that defeated hosts India at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) to chase to their target of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a below par with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of the day's chase as the duo added 202 followed perhaps the team's shoddiest display in the field under the captain's leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in particular for spilling two of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily succeeded,” Healy continued.
From the time data was initially recorded on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the six missed catches marked the team's worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.
It helped the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat first, their highest score in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous 10-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was key to making sure Australia’s target wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Place
Healy was pleased to learn that the victory, which puts her undefeated side at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That's great news,” she said.
The experienced captain sped to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden Tournament Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her first World Cup fifty off 46 balls shortly after her partner got there off 43. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, the captain spilled the simplest of edges off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clear catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as King Leads
Instead, the spinners excelled, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Other spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the competition's top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record total against the Aussies, but the target was rendered easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to Indore to take on England and the Proteas.”
