Alyssa Healy has delivered outstanding back-to-back centuries to steer her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, motivating them to a commanding comprehensive victory over their opponents.
Healy finished not out on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her similarly stellar 142 that saw off hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84no) to chase to their goal of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and probably a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the win and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the pair added 202 runs came after possibly the team's weakest display in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for spilling a couple of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately succeeded,” Healy continued.
Since statistics was first taken on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities marked the team's poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.
It helped the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever total in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was crucial to ensuring the team's target remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Confirms Knockout Place
Healy was pleased to learn that the triumph, which puts her undefeated team top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with First World Cup Fifty
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-highest stand by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain dropped the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a tough skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Stars
Instead, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to 13.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the total was rendered straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 runs against India four days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked star performer King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to face the English team and South Africa.”
