Alyssa Healy has delivered superb back-to-back hundreds to lead her squad into the last four of the World Cup, inspiring them to a dominant comprehensive trouncing over their opponents.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113, arriving just a few days after her equally impressive 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to race to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 overs.
“I thought I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo put on 202 runs followed perhaps the team's poorest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the captain scolding herself in especial for spilling two of the six chances that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately succeeded,” she added.
From the time statistics was first recorded on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities represented Australia’s worst fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” Healy said.
It helped the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was crucial to ensuring Australia’s target remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Win that Seals Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was delighted to learn that the victory, which places her unbeaten side at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she accelerated from her partner in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden Tournament Fifty
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her first tournament fifty off 46 deliveries soon after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, the captain dropped the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a difficult skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean catch off Brown but failed to review when the official rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Brown bowled the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Stars
Instead, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the target was rendered straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to face England and South Africa.”
