Alyssa Healy has produced brilliant consecutive hundreds to guide her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, driving them to a dominant comprehensive win over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113, arriving just a few days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to dash to their target 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 two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of the day's run-chase as the pair put on 202 runs came after perhaps the team's shoddiest display in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for spilling a couple of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and luckily succeeded,” Healy continued.
From the time data was initially taken on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the six dropped catches represented the team's worst fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” Healy commented.
This allowed Bangladesh to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever total in an ODI against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was key to ensuring Australia’s target remained manageable.
Healy Pleased with Win that Seals Knockout Spot
Healy was thrilled to discover that the victory, which puts her unbeaten team at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That's great news,” she said.
The experienced captain sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 balls soon after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best stand by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain spilled the easiest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clean catch off Brown but failed to review when the official rejected their shout.
The recalled Brown bowled the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the spinners excelled, led by King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s leading 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 highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the target was rendered easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against the Indian side a few days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to Indore to take on England and South Africa.”
