Alyssa Healy has delivered brilliant consecutive centuries to lead her squad into the last four of the World Cup, motivating them to a dominant comprehensive victory over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113, coming just four days after her equally impressive 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to chase to their target of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a below par behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” she said.
Ironically, the utmost professionalism of the day's run-chase as the duo added 202 runs followed perhaps the team's weakest performance in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for spilling two of the six catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily succeeded,” she added.
From the time statistics was first recorded on fielding metrics in the year 2013, the six dropped opportunities represented Australia’s worst fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” the captain said.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever score in an ODI against Australia, with a key batter compiling the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was vital to making sure Australia’s target wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Victory that Confirms Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was thrilled to learn that the victory, which places her unbeaten team at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The experienced skipper sped to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she accelerated from her partner later in the innings after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with First World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her maiden tournament half-century off 46 balls soon after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best stand by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain dropped the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clear chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their shout.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Leads
Instead, the spinners thrived, led by King, whose spell could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record score against the Aussies, but the target was rendered easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 runs against India four days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said star performer King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to Indore to face the English team and the Proteas.”
