Alyssa Healy has delivered superb back-to-back centuries to lead her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a dominant 10-wicket victory over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113, arriving just four days after her equally brilliant 142 that saw off the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to chase to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 overs.
“I thought I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and probably a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the win and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of the day's chase as the duo put on 202 runs came after possibly the team's poorest performance in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in particular for spilling a couple of the six catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately got the job done,” she added.
From the time statistics was initially recorded on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities represented the team's poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll review,” Healy commented.
This allowed the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever score in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter compiling the maiden half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was key to ensuring Australia’s target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Spot
Healy was delighted to discover that the victory, which puts her unbeaten side at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper raced to her century 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 her partner later in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Shines with First World Cup Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and a six, getting to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Australian pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain spilled the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a difficult skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the official turned down their appeal.
The recalled Brown bowled the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the target was made to look easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate going back to Indore to take on England and the Proteas.”
