Alyssa Healy has delivered superb consecutive hundreds to guide her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a commanding 10-wicket trouncing over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her similarly impressive 142-run knock that defeated hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) to chase to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a below par behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo put on 202 came after possibly the team's shoddiest performance in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the captain scolding herself in particular for dropping two of the six catches that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and luckily got the job done,” she added.
From the time data was first recorded on fielding statistics in 2013, the six dropped catches represented Australia’s poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” Healy commented.
It helped the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their highest total in an ODI against Australia, with a key batter compiling the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken ten-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was vital to making sure Australia’s target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Place
Healy was delighted to learn that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten side at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The experienced captain raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with First Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and a six, reaching to her first World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain spilled the easiest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a difficult skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire rejected their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their record score against the Australians, but the total was made to look straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said star performer Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We look forward to going back to the next venue to face the English team and South Africa.”
