Alyssa Healy has delivered outstanding back-to-back hundreds to steer her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a merciless 10-wicket trouncing over Bangladesh.
Healy remained not out on 113, coming just four days after her similarly stellar 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the same 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 overs.
“I thought I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair added 202 followed possibly the team's shoddiest display in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for spilling a couple of the half-dozen chances that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and fortunately succeeded,” she added.
From the time statistics was initially recorded on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities marked the team's poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain said.
This allowed the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest score in an ODI against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken 10-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was crucial to making sure the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Pleased with Win that Seals Semi-Final Place
Healy was thrilled to discover that the triumph, which places her undefeated team top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper sped to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from her partner later in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden World Cup Fifty
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy spilled the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clear chance off Brown but failed to review when the umpire turned down their shout.
The recalled Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as King Leads
Instead, the spinners excelled, led by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Other spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's not out 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their record total against the Australians, but the total was rendered easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 runs against India a few days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to face England and South Africa.”
