Alyssa Healy has executed superb back-to-back centuries to guide her team into the last four of the World Cup, inspiring them to a commanding 10-wicket trouncing over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113, coming just four days after her similarly brilliant 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84no) to chase to their goal 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 take the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the utmost professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair put on 202 followed perhaps the team's poorest performance in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for dropping two of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and luckily succeeded,” Healy continued.
From the time statistics was first taken on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the six dropped opportunities marked Australia’s poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll review,” Healy commented.
It helped the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat first, their highest score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was crucial to making sure Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Win that Seals Knockout Place
Healy was thrilled to discover that the victory, which places her unbeaten side at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her first tournament half-century off 46 deliveries soon after her partner reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, the captain spilled the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official turned down their shout.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, led by King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her position as the competition's top wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record total against the Australians, but the target was made to look straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 runs against India a few days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to the next venue to take on England and the Proteas.”
