Alyssa Healy has produced brilliant consecutive hundreds to steer her squad into the last four of the World Cup, motivating them to a dominant 10-wicket victory over Bangladesh.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just four days after her equally stellar 142 that saw off hosts India at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to chase to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I thought I was a not at my best with the gloves, and probably a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the utmost expertise of the day's run-chase as the duo put on 202 runs came after possibly Australia’s poorest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the captain scolding herself in particular for dropping a couple of the six chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily got the job done,” she added.
From the time statistics was first recorded on fielding metrics in the year 2013, the six dropped opportunities marked Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” Healy commented.
This allowed the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was key to ensuring the team's chase remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Place
Healy was delighted to learn that the victory, which places her unbeaten team top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and a six, reaching to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 balls soon after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-highest stand by any Australian pair at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, Healy spilled the simplest of chances off a teammate and also failed to grasp a difficult skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clear chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their shout.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the team's costliest bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Stars
Instead, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Other spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the target was rendered straightforward by a side who had successfully pursued 330 against the Indian side four days before.
“It's fantastic 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 returning to Indore to take on England and South Africa.”
