Alyssa Healy has produced brilliant back-to-back centuries to guide her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, driving them to a merciless comprehensive win over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113, arriving just a few days after her equally brilliant 142 that saw off hosts India at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to dash to their target of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair added 202 followed possibly Australia’s weakest performance in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in particular for dropping two of the six chances that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately succeeded,” she added.
From the time data was initially recorded on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities marked Australia’s worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” Healy said.
This allowed Bangladesh to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever score in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous 10-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was key to ensuring Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Confirms Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was thrilled to learn that the victory, which places her unbeaten side at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with First Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her first World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Aussie pair 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 grasp a tough lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clean catch off Brown but failed to review when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Brown sent down the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Stars
Instead, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Other spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their record total against the Australians, but the total was made to look straightforward by a team who had chased down 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 King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to the next venue to face England and South Africa.”
