Alyssa Healy has produced superb consecutive hundreds to guide her squad into the last four of the World Cup, motivating them to a dominant comprehensive trouncing over Bangladesh.
Healy finished unbeaten on 113, arriving just a few days after her equally impressive 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an undefeated 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84no) to dash to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 overs.
“I thought I was a below par with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo added 202 runs came after possibly the team's shoddiest performance in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for dropping a couple of the six chances that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and fortunately got the job done,” Healy continued.
From the time statistics was initially recorded on fielding metrics in 2013, the six missed catches represented the team's worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain said.
This allowed the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever total in an ODI against Australia, with a key batter scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maidens, was key to making sure Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Confirms Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was pleased to discover that the victory, which places her unbeaten team at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from her partner later in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with First World Cup Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and a six, getting to her first tournament half-century off 46 deliveries soon after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, Healy spilled the easiest of chances off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a difficult skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their shout.
The reinstated Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was still the team's costliest bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their record total against the Aussies, but the target was rendered easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 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 anticipate returning to Indore to face the English team and the Proteas.”
