Alyssa Healy has produced brilliant back-to-back hundreds to guide her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a dominant comprehensive win over Bangladesh.
Healy finished not out on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her similarly impressive 142 that saw off the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to race to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the utmost professionalism of the day's chase as the duo added 202 followed possibly the team's poorest performance in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for dropping two of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately succeeded,” Healy continued.
From the time data was first recorded on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the six missed catches represented Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain said.
This allowed Bangladesh to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their highest total in an ODI against Australia, with a key batter compiling the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was crucial to making sure Australia’s chase remained manageable.
Healy Pleased with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was pleased to discover that the victory, which puts her unbeaten side top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That's great news,” she said.
The experienced skipper sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from her partner later in the innings after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her first World Cup half-century off 46 balls shortly after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, Healy dropped the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a tough skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clean chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was still the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Stars
Instead, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record score against the Aussies, but the total was rendered easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side four days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked star performer King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate returning to Indore to take on England and the Proteas.”
