Alyssa Healy has produced superb consecutive hundreds to steer her team into the last four of the World Cup, driving them to a commanding 10-wicket victory over Bangladesh.
Healy remained not out on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her similarly stellar 142 that saw off the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) to dash to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a below par with the gloves, and probably a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s chase as the pair added 202 runs followed possibly Australia’s shoddiest display in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for dropping two of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily delivered,” she added.
From the time statistics was first taken on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities represented the team's poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” Healy said.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest score in an ODI against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was vital to making sure the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was pleased to discover that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten side at the top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The experienced skipper sped to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Shines with First Tournament Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her maiden World Cup half-century 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.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, Healy spilled the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official turned down their appeal.
The recalled Brown sent down the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowler, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Leads
Instead, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by King, whose spell could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 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 two for 41, taking her total to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's not out 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record total against the Australians, but the target was made to look straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 against the Indian side a few days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to take on England and the Proteas.”
