Alyssa Healy has executed superb back-to-back hundreds to lead her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a merciless 10-wicket win over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113, arriving just four days after her similarly impressive 142 that saw off the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to race to their target of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a not at my best with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the pair put on 202 runs followed possibly the team's weakest performance in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for spilling two of the half-dozen chances that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately got the job done,” she added.
From the time statistics was initially recorded on fielding metrics 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 reflect on,” the captain said.
It helped Bangladesh to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their highest score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with a key batter compiling the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken 10-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 Pleased with Win that Seals Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was pleased to learn that the victory, which puts her unbeaten side top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper raced to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with First Tournament Fifty
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her first World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain dropped the easiest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clean catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as King Stars
Instead, the spinners thrived, led by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Other spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and 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, bringing her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the total was made to look easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 runs against India a few days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked star performer King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to Indore to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
