Alyssa Healy has delivered outstanding consecutive centuries to lead her squad into the last four of the World Cup, motivating them to a dominant 10-wicket win over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113, arriving just four days after her similarly impressive 142 that saw off the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to chase to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a below par with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the pair added 202 followed perhaps Australia’s poorest display in the field under the captain's leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for dropping a couple of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately got the job done,” Healy continued.
From the time data was first recorded on fielding metrics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities represented Australia’s worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” Healy commented.
It helped the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken ten-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was crucial to ensuring the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Seals Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was thrilled to discover that the triumph, which places her unbeaten team at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden World Cup Fifty
Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her first World Cup fifty off 46 balls shortly after Healy reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, the captain spilled the easiest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a tough lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean catch off Brown but failed to review when the official turned down their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown sent down the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was still the team's most expensive bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as King Stars
Instead, the spinners excelled, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took the team to their record score against the Australians, but the total was rendered straightforward by a side who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side four days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to face the English team and the Proteas.”
