Alyssa Healy has delivered brilliant back-to-back centuries to lead her team into the last four of the World Cup, motivating them to a merciless comprehensive victory over Bangladesh.
Healy finished not out on 113 runs, coming just four days after her similarly brilliant 142 that defeated hosts India at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to race to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 overs.
“I thought I was a not at my best with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of the day's run-chase as the duo added 202 followed perhaps Australia’s shoddiest performance in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for dropping two of the six catches that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and luckily got the job done,” she added.
From the time statistics was initially recorded on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed catches marked Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” the captain said.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken ten-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was crucial to ensuring the team's chase remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Win that Seals Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was thrilled to discover that the victory, which places her undefeated team at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That's great news,” she said.
The experienced captain sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with First Tournament Fifty
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, Healy spilled the easiest of edges off a teammate and also failed to grasp a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clear catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their shout.
The reinstated Brown bowled the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, led by King, whose spell could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the target was rendered straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 against India four days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate going back to Indore to face England and the Proteas.”
