Alyssa Healy has produced brilliant consecutive centuries to guide her team into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a dominant 10-wicket trouncing over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her similarly brilliant 142 that defeated the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to chase to their goal of 199 in just under 25 overs.
“I thought I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and probably a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo added 202 runs followed possibly Australia’s shoddiest performance in the field under the captain's leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for spilling a couple of the six catches that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and fortunately delivered,” Healy continued.
Since data was initially recorded on fielding performance statistics in the year 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 little while, and it’s something we’ll review,” the captain said.
This allowed the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their highest score in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was crucial to ensuring the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Victory that Seals Knockout Place
Healy was pleased to learn that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten side top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from her partner later in the innings after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Shines with First World Cup Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, getting to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries soon after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, the captain dropped the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean chance off Brown but failed to review when the official rejected their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown sent down the fastest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, led by King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Other spinners Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their record score against the Aussies, but the target was made to look straightforward by a side who had successfully pursued 330 against India a few days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We look forward to going back to Indore to face the English team and South Africa.”
