Alyssa Healy has executed outstanding back-to-back hundreds to lead her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a dominant 10-wicket win over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113, arriving just a few days after her equally brilliant 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to dash to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 overs.
“I felt I was a below par with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll take the win and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo put on 202 followed possibly Australia’s weakest performance in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for dropping two of the half-dozen chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily got the job done,” she added.
Since data was first taken on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities represented the team's poorest 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 an issue we’ll review,” the captain commented.
It helped the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat first, their highest total in an One-Day International against Australia, with a key batter compiling the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But Alana King mesmeric continuous ten-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was vital to making sure the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Win that Confirms Knockout Place
Healy was pleased to discover that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten side top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, secures them a place in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The 35-year-old skipper sped to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest century of the World Cup, 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 World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her first World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain dropped the easiest of chances off a teammate and also failed to grasp a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clear chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown sent down the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Stars
Instead, the spinners excelled, led by King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the total was made to look straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India four days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said star performer Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to face the English team and the Proteas.”
