Alyssa Healy has delivered outstanding consecutive hundreds to steer her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, driving them to a commanding comprehensive win over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113, arriving just a few days after her similarly stellar 142 that saw off the Indian team at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to chase to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I thought I was a below par with the gloves, and probably a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of the day's chase as the pair put on 202 followed perhaps the team's shoddiest performance in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in particular for spilling two of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily delivered,” Healy continued.
From the time statistics was first recorded on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the six missed catches marked Australia’s worst fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” Healy said.
It helped Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their highest score in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was crucial to ensuring the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was pleased to learn that the victory, which puts her undefeated side at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away 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
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 deliveries soon after Healy got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Australian pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding display, Healy spilled the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a tough skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean chance off the same bowler 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 still the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, led by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to 13.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record score against the Australians, but the total was made to look straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 runs against India a few 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. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to Indore to face England and South Africa.”
