Alyssa Healy has delivered outstanding back-to-back centuries to guide her team into the last four of the World Cup, motivating them to a merciless comprehensive win over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113, arriving just a few days after her similarly impressive 142 that saw off the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84no) to chase to their goal of 199 in just under 25 overs.
“I felt I was a below par with the gloves, and probably a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s chase as the duo added 202 runs followed possibly Australia’s poorest display in the field under the captain's leadership, with the captain scolding herself in particular for spilling two of the half-dozen 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 bat, and luckily delivered,” she added.
From the time data was initially taken on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the six missed catches marked the team's worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” the captain said.
It helped the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest score in an One-Day International against Australia, with a key batter scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken ten-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 Delighted with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Place
Healy was thrilled to discover that the victory, which puts her undefeated team top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from her partner later in the knock after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with First Tournament Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her first tournament half-century off 46 deliveries soon after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain spilled the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a tough skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the official turned down their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Leads
Instead, the spinners excelled, led by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Other spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to 13.
A batter's 44 and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took the team to their record total against the Aussies, but the target was rendered easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side a few days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to Indore to face the English team and South Africa.”
