Alyssa Healy has delivered superb back-to-back hundreds to steer her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, inspiring them to a merciless comprehensive victory over Bangladesh.
Healy finished unbeaten on 113, arriving just a few days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to dash to their target of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I thought I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of the day's chase as the pair put on 202 runs followed perhaps the team's weakest performance in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for spilling a couple of the six chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and fortunately delivered,” she added.
From the time data was initially recorded on fielding statistics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities represented Australia’s worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” the captain said.
It helped Bangladesh to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their highest total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken 10-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was crucial to making sure Australia’s target wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Pleased with Win that Seals Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was delighted to learn that the triumph, which puts her undefeated team top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The experienced skipper sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from her partner later in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy got there off 43. They went on to record the third-best stand by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, the captain spilled the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also take a clear catch off Brown but failed to review when the official rejected their shout.
The recalled Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, led by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's not out 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their record score against the Aussies, but the total was rendered straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 runs against India four days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to Indore to face the English team and the Proteas.”
