Alyssa Healy has produced outstanding back-to-back centuries to steer her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, inspiring them to a dominant comprehensive victory over their opponents.
Healy remained not out on 113, arriving just a few days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an undefeated double-century first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to chase to their target of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair added 202 runs followed perhaps Australia’s weakest performance in the fielding department under Healy’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 wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily got the job done,” she added.
From the time statistics was initially recorded on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities marked the team's worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” Healy said.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever score in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken ten-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was crucial to making sure the team's target remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was pleased to learn that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten team at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 fours 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 boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, getting to her first World Cup fifty off 46 balls shortly after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-highest stand by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, Healy spilled the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear catch off Brown but failed to review when the official turned down their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ most expensive bowler, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the competition's top wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record total against the Australians, but the total was made to look easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 against the Indian side a few days before.
“It’s always nice 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 face the English team and South Africa.”
