Alyssa Healy has delivered brilliant back-to-back centuries to lead her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a merciless comprehensive victory over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her equally impressive 142 that saw off hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to race to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and probably a bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the pair added 202 came after perhaps the team's poorest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for dropping two of the six chances that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and luckily got the job done,” Healy continued.
From the time statistics was first taken on fielding metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities marked the team's poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” Healy said.
It helped Bangladesh to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with a key batter compiling the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King mesmeric continuous ten-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maidens, was crucial to making sure the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Seals Knockout Place
Healy was delighted to learn that the victory, which puts her unbeaten side at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain sped to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with Maiden World Cup Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, getting to her first World Cup half-century off 46 balls shortly after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain spilled the simplest of edges off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a tough lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clear chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their shout.
The recalled Darcie Brown sent down the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the spinners excelled, led by King, whose performance could have been more successful 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) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and another's not out 66 off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the target was made to look straightforward by a side who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” said star performer King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to the next venue to face the English team and South Africa.”
