Alyssa Healy has delivered brilliant consecutive centuries to lead her team into the last four of the World Cup, inspiring them to a commanding 10-wicket win over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113 runs, coming just four days after her equally brilliant 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to race to their goal of 199 in just under 25 overs.
“I thought I was a not at my best with the gloves, and probably a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of the day's run-chase as the duo added 202 followed perhaps Australia’s weakest performance in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for dropping a couple of the six catches that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately got the job done,” she added.
From the time data was first taken on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities marked Australia’s poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain said.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest total in an ODI against Australia, with a key batter compiling the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous ten-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maidens, was key to ensuring the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was pleased to learn that the victory, which puts her unbeaten team top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper sped to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with First World Cup Fifty
Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her first World Cup half-century off 46 balls shortly after Healy got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain dropped the simplest of chances off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the team's costliest bowling option, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Other spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their record total against the Aussies, but the total was made to look straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked star performer King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to Indore to face the English team and South Africa.”
