Alyssa Healy has executed outstanding consecutive centuries to guide her team into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a merciless comprehensive trouncing over their opponents.
Healy finished not out on 113, arriving just four days after her similarly stellar 142 that defeated the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84no) to race to their target of 199 in just under 25 overs.
“I felt I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the duo put on 202 came after possibly Australia’s shoddiest display in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for dropping two of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately succeeded,” Healy continued.
Since statistics was first recorded on fielding statistics in 2013, the half-dozen missed catches represented Australia’s worst 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 something we’ll reflect on,” the captain said.
It helped Bangladesh to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever score in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was key to ensuring the team's target remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Victory that Seals Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was pleased to learn that the triumph, which puts her undefeated side top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper sped to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from her partner later in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Impresses with First Tournament Fifty
Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 balls shortly after her partner got there off 43. They went on to record the third-best stand by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain dropped the simplest of edges off a teammate and also failed to grasp a tough lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear chance off Brown but failed to review when the official turned down their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, led by King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Other spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the total was made to look straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 runs against India four days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked star performer Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate returning to Indore to face England and the Proteas.”
