Alyssa Healy has executed outstanding back-to-back hundreds to guide her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, inspiring them to a dominant comprehensive trouncing over their opponents.
Healy finished not out on 113, coming just a few days after her similarly impressive 142 that defeated the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to dash to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a below par with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” she said.
Ironically, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo added 202 runs followed perhaps Australia’s poorest performance in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for spilling a couple of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and luckily got the job done,” Healy continued.
Since statistics was first taken on fielding metrics in 2013, the six missed opportunities represented the team's poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” Healy commented.
It helped Bangladesh to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their highest score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous ten-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was key to making sure the team's target remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Win that Confirms Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was pleased to discover that the triumph, which puts her undefeated team top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's great news,” she said.
The experienced captain raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Impresses with First World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 balls shortly after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain dropped the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a tough lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also take a clear catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown sent down the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the target was made to look straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 against India a few days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said star performer King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to the next venue to take on England and South Africa.”
