Alyssa Healy has delivered superb consecutive centuries to guide her squad into the last four of the World Cup, inspiring them to a merciless comprehensive victory over their opponents.
Healy finished not out on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her similarly brilliant 142 that defeated the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) to race to their target of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a below par with the gloves, and probably a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the win and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the utmost professionalism of the day's run-chase as the pair added 202 followed possibly the team's weakest performance in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for spilling two of the six 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 batting, and fortunately succeeded,” she added.
From the time data was first recorded on fielding metrics in 2013, the six dropped catches represented the team's worst fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.
This allowed the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever total in an ODI against Australia, with a key batter scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King mesmeric continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was key to making sure Australia’s chase remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Win that Confirms Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was thrilled to discover that the victory, which puts her unbeaten side at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The experienced skipper sped to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries 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.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her maiden tournament half-century off 46 deliveries soon after her partner got there off 43. They went on to record the third-best stand by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, Healy spilled the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also take a clear chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the official turned down their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the spinners excelled, led by Alana King, whose spell could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the target was made to look straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 against the Indian side a few days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said star performer King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to Indore to take on the English team and South Africa.”
