Alyssa Healy has delivered brilliant back-to-back centuries to steer her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a merciless 10-wicket trouncing over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113, arriving just a few days after her equally impressive 142 that defeated hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to chase to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll take the win and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of the day's run-chase as the pair added 202 runs followed possibly the team's weakest performance in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for spilling a couple of the six chances that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and fortunately delivered,” Healy continued.
Since data was initially recorded on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the six dropped opportunities marked Australia’s poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.
This allowed the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with a key batter compiling the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was key to making sure the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted 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 wash-out, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper sped to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with First World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her first tournament fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Australian pair at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, Healy dropped the easiest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to hold on to a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the spinners thrived, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Other spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her total to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the target was rendered straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against India a few days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to the next venue to take on England and the Proteas.”
