Alyssa Healy has delivered brilliant back-to-back hundreds to guide her team into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a merciless 10-wicket victory over their opponents.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her similarly impressive 142 that defeated the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam 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 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s chase as the pair added 202 runs came after possibly the team's poorest display in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for dropping two of the six chances that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately delivered,” she added.
Since statistics was first taken on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the six missed catches marked Australia’s poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.
It helped the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden fifty 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 maidens, was crucial to ensuring Australia’s target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Confirms Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was thrilled to learn that the triumph, which places her undefeated team top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The experienced captain sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with First World Cup Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and a six, getting to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries soon after her partner got there off 43. They went on to record the third-best stand by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, Healy spilled the easiest of edges off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a tough lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clear catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official turned down their appeal.
The recalled Brown bowled the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowling option, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Leads
Instead, the spinners thrived, led by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Other spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her total to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 balls took the team to their record score against the Aussies, but the total was rendered easy meat by a side who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India four days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate going back to the next venue to face England and South Africa.”
