Alyssa Healy has executed brilliant consecutive hundreds to steer her squad into the last four of the World Cup, inspiring them to a commanding comprehensive victory over their opponents.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113, coming just a few days after her similarly impressive 142 that saw off the Indian team at the identical Vizag venue. This time, she shared an undefeated double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 overs.
“I thought I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the win and progress,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the pair added 202 came after possibly Australia’s poorest performance in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for spilling a couple of the six catches that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and fortunately delivered,” Healy continued.
Since data was first recorded on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities marked the team's worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain said.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever total in an ODI against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken ten-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was crucial to ensuring the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Seals Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was thrilled to learn that the victory, which puts her unbeaten team top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a place in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The experienced captain sped to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from her partner later in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with First World Cup Fifty
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 fours and a six, getting to her first World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, Healy dropped the simplest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a difficult skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, led by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the target was made to look straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to the next venue to face the English team and the Proteas.”
