Alyssa Healy has delivered superb back-to-back centuries to lead her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, driving them to a commanding comprehensive win over their opponents.
Healy finished unbeaten on 113, arriving just a few days after her similarly impressive 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the same Vizag venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to chase to their target of 199 in just under 25 overs.
“I thought I was a below par behind the stumps, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of the day's chase as the pair put on 202 came after possibly the team's shoddiest display in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for spilling two of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately succeeded,” Healy continued.
Since data was first recorded on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities marked the team's worst fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” Healy said.
This allowed the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was key to making sure Australia’s target remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Seals Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was thrilled to learn that the triumph, which places her undefeated side at the top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, secures them a place in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The experienced skipper sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with First World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her first World Cup fifty off 46 balls shortly after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain spilled the easiest of edges off a teammate and also failed to grasp a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear chance off Brown but failed to review when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the team's most expensive bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as King Stars
Instead, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record total against the Aussies, but the total was rendered straightforward by a side who had successfully pursued 330 against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked star performer Alana King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to Indore to face the English team and South Africa.”
