Alyssa Healy has executed superb consecutive centuries to steer her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a commanding comprehensive win over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113, arriving just four days after her similarly impressive 142 that saw off hosts India at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a below par with the gloves, and probably a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of the day's chase as the duo added 202 runs came after possibly the team's poorest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for dropping a couple of the six chances that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and luckily delivered,” she added.
From the time statistics was initially recorded on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the six missed catches marked 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 while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” 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 fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding continuous 10-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was crucial to making sure the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Confirms Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was delighted to discover that the triumph, which places her unbeaten side top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The 35-year-old skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with First World Cup Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, getting to her maiden tournament half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, Healy dropped the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clear chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire turned down their shout.
The reinstated Brown bowled the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the team's costliest bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Stars
Instead, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Other spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and another's not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the target was made to look straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked star performer King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate going back to Indore to take on the English team and South Africa.”
