Alyssa Healy has delivered brilliant consecutive centuries to steer her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, inspiring them to a dominant comprehensive win over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113 runs, coming just four days after her equally brilliant 142-run knock that defeated hosts India at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to race to their target of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo put on 202 followed possibly Australia’s weakest display in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for spilling a couple of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and luckily delivered,” she added.
From the time statistics was first recorded on fielding metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities marked Australia’s worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” Healy said.
It helped the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest score in an ODI against Australia, with a key batter scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was crucial to ensuring the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Seals Knockout Place
Healy was thrilled to discover that the victory, which places her unbeaten team top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with First Tournament Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 fours and a six, getting to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 balls soon after Healy reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best stand by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, Healy dropped the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clear catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their shout.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the quickest 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.
Spinners Excel as King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, led by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and another's not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the target was rendered straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said star performer King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to Indore to face England and the Proteas.”
