Alyssa Healy has produced brilliant consecutive hundreds to steer her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a commanding comprehensive trouncing over their opponents.
Healy finished not out on 113 runs, coming just four days after her similarly stellar 142 that defeated the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to race to their goal of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a below par with the gloves, and probably a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s chase as the pair added 202 runs followed possibly the team's weakest performance in the field under the captain's leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in particular for spilling a couple of the six chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and fortunately succeeded,” she added.
From the time data was first taken on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the half-dozen missed catches represented the team's poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” Healy commented.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their highest total in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was key to ensuring Australia’s chase remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Confirms Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was pleased to learn that the victory, which places her undefeated side top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The experienced skipper raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the fastest century of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her first World Cup half-century off 46 balls soon after her partner reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best stand by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain dropped the easiest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Brown bowled the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the team's most expensive bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Stars
Instead, the spinners excelled, led by King, whose spell could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the total was rendered straightforward by a side who had successfully pursued 330 against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to Indore to face England and the Proteas.”
