Alyssa Healy has delivered superb consecutive hundreds to guide her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, motivating them to a dominant comprehensive win over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her similarly stellar 142-run knock that defeated hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an undefeated double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to chase to their goal of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and probably a bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the utmost expertise of the day's chase as the duo put on 202 followed perhaps the team's weakest display in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for spilling a couple of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily got the job done,” Healy continued.
From the time statistics was initially taken on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the six missed opportunities marked Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” Healy commented.
It helped the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their highest total in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was vital to making sure the team's target remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Victory that Seals Knockout Spot
Healy was pleased to discover that the triumph, which places her undefeated side top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the fastest century of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from her partner later in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with Maiden World Cup Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her first tournament fifty off 46 balls soon after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain dropped the easiest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a difficult skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the official rejected their appeal.
The recalled Brown bowled the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to 13.
A batter's 44 and another's not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the target was rendered straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said star performer Alana King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
