Alyssa Healy has delivered brilliant consecutive hundreds to steer her team into the last four of the World Cup, motivating them to a merciless comprehensive victory over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her similarly stellar 142 that defeated the Indian team at the same Vizag venue. 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 under 25 overs.
“I felt I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and probably a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” she said.
Ironically, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair added 202 runs came after possibly Australia’s poorest performance in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for spilling a couple of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately succeeded,” Healy continued.
From the time data was first recorded on fielding metrics in 2013, the six dropped catches marked the team's poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” Healy commented.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with a key batter compiling the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was crucial to ensuring the team's chase remained manageable.
Healy Pleased with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Place
Healy was thrilled to discover that the victory, 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 semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The experienced skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden World Cup Fifty
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, getting to her first tournament fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding display, Healy spilled the simplest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also take a clean catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Other spinners Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's not out 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the target was rendered straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against the Indian side a few days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said star performer Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to Indore to take on England and the Proteas.”