Alyssa Healy has executed brilliant back-to-back centuries to guide her team into the last four of the World Cup, driving them to a merciless 10-wicket win over Bangladesh.
Healy remained not out on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her similarly brilliant 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to chase to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and probably a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the pair put on 202 followed perhaps Australia’s weakest display in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for spilling a couple of the six catches that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately got the job done,” she added.
Since data was first recorded on fielding metrics in the year 2013, the six missed opportunities represented the team's worst fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.
It helped Bangladesh to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against Australia, with a key batter scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding continuous 10-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was key to ensuring Australia’s chase remained manageable.
Healy Pleased with Win that Seals Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was pleased to discover that the victory, which places her unbeaten team at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The experienced captain raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden Tournament Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, getting to her first World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy got there off 43. They went on to record the third-highest stand by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain dropped the easiest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire turned down their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as King Leads
In contrast, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Other spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the target was rendered easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to Indore to take on England and the Proteas.”
