Alyssa Healy has produced brilliant consecutive hundreds to steer her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a commanding 10-wicket victory over Bangladesh.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her similarly stellar 142 that defeated the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated double-century first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to dash to their target of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a not at my best with the gloves, and probably a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of the day's chase as the duo put on 202 runs came after possibly Australia’s shoddiest performance in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for spilling a couple of the half-dozen chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately got the job done,” Healy continued.
Since data was first taken on fielding statistics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities marked Australia’s worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll review,” Healy commented.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 9-198 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken ten-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was key to making sure the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Pleased with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was thrilled to discover that the victory, which places her undefeated team top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's great news,” she said.
The experienced skipper sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with First World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her first World Cup fifty off 46 balls shortly after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, Healy dropped the easiest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their shout.
The reinstated Brown bowled the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's top wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the total was rendered easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against India a few days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said star performer King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to face the English team and the Proteas.”
