Alyssa Healy has delivered superb consecutive hundreds to guide her squad into the last four of the World Cup, motivating them to a dominant 10-wicket win over their opponents.
Healy finished not out on 113 runs, coming just four days after her equally impressive 142 that saw off hosts India at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an undefeated double-century first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to dash to their goal of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the duo put on 202 runs followed perhaps Australia’s weakest performance in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in particular for spilling two of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and fortunately got the job done,” she added.
Since data was first recorded on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities marked the team's poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” Healy said.
It helped the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against Australia, with a key batter compiling the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken 10-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maidens, was crucial to ensuring Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Spot
Healy was thrilled to discover that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten side top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The experienced captain sped to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from her partner later in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden World Cup Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her first tournament fifty off 46 balls shortly after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy dropped the simplest of chances off a teammate and also failed to grasp a difficult skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the official turned down their appeal.
The recalled Brown bowled the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was still the team's most expensive bowler, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Leads
In contrast, the spinners thrived, led by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's not out 66 off 80 deliveries took the team to their record score against the Australians, but the target was made to look straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against India four days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate going back to Indore to face the English team and South Africa.”
