Alyssa Healy has delivered outstanding consecutive centuries to steer her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, inspiring them to a commanding 10-wicket trouncing over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113 runs, coming just four days after her equally impressive 142 that saw off the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and probably a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” she said.
Ironically, the utmost professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the pair added 202 came after perhaps Australia’s weakest performance in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for spilling two of the six catches that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately delivered,” she added.
From the time data was initially recorded on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities represented Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” the captain said.
It helped the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their highest score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with a key batter compiling the maiden half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken 10-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was key to ensuring Australia’s chase remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Confirms Knockout Spot
Healy was pleased to discover that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten side top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the last-four. “That's great news,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Shines with Maiden Tournament Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, getting to her first World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries soon after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-best stand by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain dropped the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a tough skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire rejected their shout.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the spinners thrived, led by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her total to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and another's not out 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their record score against the Australians, but the target was made to look straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side four days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to face England and the Proteas.”
