Alyssa Healy has delivered superb consecutive hundreds to guide her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, driving them to a dominant comprehensive win over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that defeated hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their goal of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and probably a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo put on 202 runs came after possibly the team's poorest performance in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for dropping a couple of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and luckily succeeded,” she added.
From the time data was first taken on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed catches represented the team's poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” the captain commented.
This allowed Bangladesh to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest score in an One-Day International against Australia, with a key batter compiling the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was vital to ensuring the team's target remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was thrilled to discover that the victory, which puts her undefeated team at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Impresses with First World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her first tournament fifty off 46 balls soon after her partner got there off 43. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, Healy spilled the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their appeal.
The recalled Brown sent down the fastest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their record total against the Australians, but the target was rendered straightforward by a side who had successfully pursued 330 against India a few days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate returning to Indore to take on England and South Africa.”
