Alyssa Healy has executed brilliant consecutive centuries to steer her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a merciless comprehensive victory over Bangladesh.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her similarly stellar 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the identical Vizag venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to race to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the utmost professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the pair added 202 runs came after possibly Australia’s weakest display in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for dropping two 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 delivered,” she added.
From the time statistics was first taken on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed catches represented the team's poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” the captain said.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest score in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was key to making sure the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Win that Seals Semi-Final Place
Healy was pleased to learn that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten side top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's great news,” she said.
The 35-year-old skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, getting to her first tournament fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy spilled the easiest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to hold on to a tough skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear catch off Brown but failed to review when the umpire turned down their shout.
The reinstated Brown sent down the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was still the team's costliest bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Stars
Instead, the spinners thrived, led by King, whose spell 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 overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's not out 66 off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the total was rendered easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 against India four days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to Indore to take on the English team and South Africa.”
