Alyssa Healy has delivered brilliant consecutive hundreds to lead her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, driving them to a merciless comprehensive trouncing over Bangladesh.
Healy finished not out on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her similarly impressive 142 that defeated hosts India at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to chase to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 overs.
“I thought I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and probably a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo added 202 came after possibly the team's poorest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for spilling two of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and fortunately succeeded,” she added.
Since data was initially recorded on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches represented the team's poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” the captain said.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was vital to ensuring Australia’s chase remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Place
Healy was pleased to learn that the victory, which puts her unbeaten side top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That's great news,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain 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 Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Shines with First World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding display, Healy dropped the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean catch off Brown but failed to review when the official rejected their appeal.
The recalled Brown sent down the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowling option, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as King Stars
Instead, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by King, whose spell could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record score against the Australians, but the total was rendered straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to Indore to face the English team and South Africa.”
