Alyssa Healy has produced superb consecutive centuries to guide her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, motivating them to a dominant comprehensive win over their opponents.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113, arriving just a few days after her equally stellar 142 that defeated hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an undefeated double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their goal of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the duo added 202 runs followed perhaps the team's shoddiest performance in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for spilling two of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and luckily succeeded,” she added.
From the time data was first taken on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the six dropped catches 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 little while, and it’s something we’ll review,” the captain commented.
This allowed Bangladesh to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever score in an ODI against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was key to making sure Australia’s chase remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Confirms Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was thrilled to discover that the victory, which places her unbeaten side top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her maiden tournament half-century off 46 deliveries soon after her partner reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy dropped the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clear catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire rejected their shout.
The recalled Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Other spinners Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the target was rendered straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 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. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to the next venue to take on the English team and South Africa.”
