Alyssa Healy has produced outstanding consecutive hundreds to steer her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, driving them to a dominant comprehensive win over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her similarly stellar 142 that saw off hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to dash to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s chase as the pair added 202 came after perhaps Australia’s shoddiest display in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the captain scolding herself in particular for spilling a couple of the six chances that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and luckily delivered,” she added.
Since data was first taken on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the six dropped catches marked the team's worst fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” Healy commented.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever score in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was key to making sure the team's target remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Spot
Healy was thrilled to discover that the triumph, which places her unbeaten team at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The experienced skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the fastest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with First Tournament Fifty
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries soon after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy dropped the easiest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a tough lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Brown sent down the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as King Leads
Instead, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spinners Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's not out 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record score against the Aussies, but the target was made to look straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 runs against India a few days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked star performer King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate going back to Indore to face the English team and the Proteas.”
