Alyssa Healy has delivered brilliant back-to-back hundreds to guide her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a commanding 10-wicket win over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113, arriving just four days after her similarly brilliant 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair put on 202 runs came after perhaps the team's shoddiest performance in the field under the captain's leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for spilling two of the half-dozen chances that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and fortunately got the job done,” Healy continued.
Since statistics was initially taken on fielding metrics in the year 2013, the six missed opportunities represented the team's worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” Healy said.
It helped the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat first, their highest score in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding continuous ten-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was vital to making sure the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Confirms Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was thrilled to discover that the triumph, which places her undefeated team at the top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The experienced captain raced to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Shines with First Tournament Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her first tournament half-century off 46 deliveries soon after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy spilled the simplest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clean catch off Brown but failed to review when the umpire rejected their shout.
The recalled Brown bowled the fastest deliveries 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.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, led by King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Other spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took the team to their record total against the Australians, but the target was made to look straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 runs against India four days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked star performer Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate returning to Indore to take on England and the Proteas.”
