Alyssa Healy has executed superb back-to-back centuries to lead her team into the last four of the World Cup, inspiring them to a dominant 10-wicket trouncing over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113, coming just four days after her similarly stellar 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the same Vizag venue. This time, she shared an undefeated double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a below par behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair added 202 came after perhaps the team's poorest display in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the captain scolding herself in particular for dropping two of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily succeeded,” Healy continued.
Since statistics was initially taken on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed catches represented the team's worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.
This allowed the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever score in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken ten-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was crucial to making sure Australia’s target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Seals Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was delighted to learn that the triumph, which places her undefeated side top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with First World Cup Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her first World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, the captain spilled the easiest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a tough lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also take a clear chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down the fastest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the total was made to look easy meat by a side who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India a few days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked star performer Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to face the English team and the Proteas.”
