Alyssa Healy has delivered superb consecutive hundreds to steer her squad into the last four of the World Cup, motivating them to a merciless comprehensive victory over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her equally brilliant 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to dash to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo put on 202 came after perhaps Australia’s shoddiest display 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 went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily got the job done,” she added.
Since statistics was first taken on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the six missed opportunities represented Australia’s worst fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” Healy said.
It helped Bangladesh to manage 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their highest total in an ODI against Australia, with a key batter scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken ten-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was crucial to making sure the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Pleased with Win that Seals Semi-Final Spot
Healy was delighted to discover 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 exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Shines with Maiden Tournament Fifty
Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 deliveries soon after her partner reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain dropped the simplest of edges off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a tough lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their shout.
The reinstated Brown sent down the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Leads
Instead, the spinners excelled, led by Alana King, whose spell could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took the team to their record score against the Australians, but the total was made to look easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 against India four days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to the next venue to take on the English team and South Africa.”
