Alyssa Healy has delivered brilliant consecutive hundreds to steer her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a dominant 10-wicket win over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113, coming just four days after her similarly stellar 142 that saw off hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to chase to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought 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 move on,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the utmost professionalism of the day's run-chase as the pair put on 202 runs followed perhaps Australia’s shoddiest display in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for dropping a couple of the six chances that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and fortunately got the job done,” she added.
From the time data was first recorded on fielding metrics in the year 2013, the six dropped catches 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 while, and it’s something we’ll review,” the captain commented.
This allowed the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their highest score in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken 10-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maidens, was key to making sure Australia’s target remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Place
Healy was delighted to discover that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten team top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, secures them a berth in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The experienced skipper sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from her partner in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Shines with First World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, getting to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-highest stand by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy dropped the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a difficult skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, led by King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to 13.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the target was made to look straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 against India a few days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We look forward to going back to the next venue to face England and South Africa.”
