Alyssa Healy has executed brilliant consecutive hundreds to steer her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, motivating them to a merciless comprehensive trouncing over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113, coming just four days after her similarly impressive 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to chase to their target of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I thought I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and probably a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the win and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s chase as the pair added 202 followed possibly the team's weakest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for spilling two of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately got the job done,” she added.
From the time statistics was first taken on fielding metrics in 2013, the six missed catches 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 reflect on,” the captain commented.
It helped the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was key to ensuring Australia’s chase remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Confirms Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was pleased to discover that the victory, which places her undefeated team at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The experienced captain sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Impresses with First Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her first tournament fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-highest stand by any Australian pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain spilled the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clear chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the official turned down their shout.
The recalled Brown sent down the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Leads
In contrast, the spinners excelled, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 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 India four days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to Indore to take on England and the Proteas.”
