Alyssa Healy has produced outstanding back-to-back hundreds to lead her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a merciless comprehensive victory over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her similarly stellar 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to race to their target of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo put on 202 followed possibly Australia’s poorest display in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for dropping a couple of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily succeeded,” she added.
Since statistics was initially recorded on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches marked Australia’s worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” Healy commented.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their highest score in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter compiling the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was vital to ensuring Australia’s target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Place
Healy was delighted to learn that the triumph, which places her undefeated team top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The experienced captain raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with First Tournament Fifty
Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her first World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries soon after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, the captain dropped the simplest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a tough lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Leads
Instead, the spinners excelled, led by Alana King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Other spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the total was made to look straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to face England and the Proteas.”
