Alyssa Healy has delivered outstanding consecutive centuries to guide her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a commanding comprehensive trouncing over Bangladesh.
Healy remained not out on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her equally brilliant 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) to dash to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and probably a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s chase as the duo added 202 followed perhaps Australia’s shoddiest display in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for spilling two of the six catches that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily got the job done,” Healy continued.
From the time data was first taken on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities represented Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” the captain said.
It helped Bangladesh 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 Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding continuous ten-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was crucial to ensuring Australia’s chase remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was delighted to discover that the triumph, which puts her undefeated side at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from her partner later in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with Maiden World Cup Fifty
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her first tournament half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, the captain spilled the easiest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to hold on to a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clean catch off Brown but failed to review when the official rejected their shout.
The reinstated Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the spinners thrived, led by King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Other spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and another's not out 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the target was made to look easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against India a few days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We look forward to going back to Indore to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
