Alyssa Healy has executed brilliant back-to-back hundreds to steer her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a commanding comprehensive trouncing over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113, arriving just a few days after her equally impressive 142-run knock that defeated hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an undefeated double-century first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to chase to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and progress,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the duo added 202 runs followed possibly the team's shoddiest display in the field under the captain's leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for dropping two of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily got the job done,” Healy continued.
From the time data was first recorded on fielding metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities marked Australia’s worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” the captain commented.
This allowed the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their highest total in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was vital to ensuring the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was delighted to learn that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten side top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The experienced skipper sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with Maiden World Cup Fifty
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 fours and a six, getting to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries soon after Healy reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-highest stand by any Australian pair at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain dropped the simplest of chances off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a tough lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their shout.
The recalled Brown sent down the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the target was made to look straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side four days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to Indore to take on the English team and South Africa.”
