Alyssa Healy has produced brilliant consecutive hundreds to guide her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, motivating them to a commanding comprehensive win over their opponents.
Healy remained not out on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her similarly impressive 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to race to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a not at my best with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of the day's run-chase as the duo put on 202 runs followed possibly the team's weakest display in the field under the captain's leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in particular for dropping a couple of the six chances that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and fortunately delivered,” Healy continued.
From the time statistics was initially recorded on fielding metrics in the year 2013, the six dropped opportunities represented Australia’s worst fielding showing 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,” Healy said.
It helped the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken ten-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was crucial to ensuring Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Win that Seals Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was pleased to discover that the victory, which places her unbeaten side top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a place in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Shines with First World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her first tournament fifty off 46 balls shortly after her partner got there off 43. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, Healy spilled the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their shout.
The recalled Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as King Leads
In contrast, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and another's not out 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record total against the Aussies, but the target was rendered easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 against the Indian side a few days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said star performer King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to face England and the Proteas.”
