Alyssa Healy has produced superb back-to-back hundreds to lead her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a merciless comprehensive win over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just four days after her similarly impressive 142 that defeated hosts India at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to chase to their goal of 199 in just under 25 overs.
“I thought I was a not at my best with the gloves, and probably a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of the day's run-chase as the duo added 202 runs came after perhaps Australia’s poorest performance in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in particular for spilling two of the six catches that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately got the job done,” Healy continued.
Since statistics was initially recorded on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities represented Australia’s worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest score in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding continuous ten-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maidens, was key to ensuring Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Win that Seals Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was pleased to discover that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten side at the top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, secures them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's great news,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, getting to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 balls soon after her partner got there off 43. They went on to record the third-best stand by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, Healy dropped the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a tough lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clean chance off Brown but failed to review when the official turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's not out 66 off 80 balls took the team to their record score against the Aussies, but the total was rendered easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 runs against India a few days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said star performer King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to Indore to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
