Alyssa Healy has delivered brilliant consecutive hundreds to guide her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a dominant 10-wicket win over Bangladesh.
Healy finished not out on 113, arriving just a few days after her similarly impressive 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the identical Vizag venue. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) to chase to their goal of 199 in just under 25 overs.
“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair put on 202 followed perhaps the team's poorest display in the field under the captain's leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for spilling a couple of the six catches that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily got the job done,” Healy continued.
Since statistics was initially recorded on fielding metrics in 2013, the six missed opportunities marked Australia’s worst fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” Healy commented.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous ten-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maidens, was crucial to ensuring the team's target remained manageable.
Healy Pleased with Win that Seals Semi-Final Spot
Healy was pleased to discover that the victory, which puts her undefeated team at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain raced to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and ended 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 practically shot for shot towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 fours and a six, getting to her first tournament half-century off 46 balls soon after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Australian pair 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 hold on to a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The recalled Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as King Leads
In contrast, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Other spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took the team to their record total against the Aussies, but the target was rendered straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 against the Indian side a few days before.
“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 the next venue to face England and the Proteas.”
