Alyssa Healy has delivered outstanding back-to-back hundreds to lead her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, driving them to a commanding comprehensive victory over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her equally brilliant 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to dash to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 overs.
“I thought I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s chase as the pair added 202 followed perhaps Australia’s shoddiest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in particular for spilling a couple of the half-dozen chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily got the job done,” Healy continued.
Since statistics was first recorded on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities marked the team's poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” Healy said.
It helped the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever total in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter compiling the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken 10-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was key to ensuring the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Victory that Confirms Knockout Spot
Healy was delighted to discover that the triumph, which puts her undefeated team at the top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with First World Cup Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her first World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, Healy dropped the easiest of edges off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a difficult skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as King Leads
Instead, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 and another's not out 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record score against the Aussies, but the total was made to look easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 against India a few days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked star performer King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to take on England and the Proteas.”
