Alyssa Healy has produced outstanding back-to-back centuries to guide her squad into the last four of the World Cup, driving them to a dominant 10-wicket trouncing over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113, arriving just four days after her similarly impressive 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to dash to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I thought I was a below par with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of the day's chase as the duo put on 202 followed possibly the team's weakest display in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in particular for dropping a couple of the six catches that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily got the job done,” she added.
From the time statistics was initially taken on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities represented Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” Healy said.
It helped the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their highest total in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was crucial to ensuring Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted 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 group table on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The experienced skipper sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from her partner later in the knock after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Shines with First World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, Healy spilled the easiest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clean catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their record total against the Aussies, but the target was rendered straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against India a few days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate going back to Indore to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
