Alyssa Healy has executed superb back-to-back hundreds to guide her team into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a merciless 10-wicket victory over Bangladesh.
Healy finished not out on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her similarly impressive 142-run knock that defeated hosts India at the same Vizag venue. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to chase to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a below par behind the stumps, and probably a bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo put on 202 runs followed perhaps Australia’s weakest performance in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for spilling a couple of the six catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately succeeded,” Healy continued.
Since statistics was first taken on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches marked Australia’s worst fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” Healy said.
It helped the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever score in an ODI against Australia, with a key batter scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she took 2-18 with four maidens, was key to ensuring the team's chase remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Seals Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was thrilled to learn that the victory, which places her undefeated side at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins 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 ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries 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.
The Opener Shines with First World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 balls soon after Healy reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, the captain spilled the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a difficult skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also take a clear catch off Brown but failed to review when the official turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Brown bowled the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was still the Aussies’ most expensive bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Other spinners Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record score against the Aussies, but the target was made to look easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side a few days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said star performer Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate going back to the next venue to take on England and South Africa.”
