Alyssa Healy has delivered superb consecutive hundreds to guide her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a dominant comprehensive win over their opponents.
Healy remained not out on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her similarly brilliant 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to race to their target of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I thought 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 utmost professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair put on 202 runs followed possibly Australia’s poorest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for spilling a couple of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily succeeded,” she added.
Since statistics was initially recorded on fielding statistics in 2013, the half-dozen missed catches represented Australia’s poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.
It helped Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever 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 unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was vital to ensuring the team's target remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Seals Knockout Spot
Healy was thrilled to learn that the victory, which places her undefeated team at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from her partner in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Shines with First Tournament Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her first World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, the captain spilled the simplest of edges off a teammate and also failed to grasp a tough lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire rejected their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowler, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, led by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the total was made to look easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We look forward to going back to Indore to take on the English team and South Africa.”
