Alyssa Healy has produced superb back-to-back centuries to guide her squad into the last four of the World Cup, driving them to a merciless 10-wicket victory over Bangladesh.
Healy finished not out on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her similarly impressive 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) to race to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 overs.
“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and probably a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo added 202 runs came after perhaps Australia’s weakest display in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in especial for dropping two of the six catches that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and fortunately delivered,” Healy continued.
Since statistics was initially recorded on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the six dropped catches represented the team's poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll review,” the captain commented.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their highest total in an ODI against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she took 2-18 with four maidens, was crucial to ensuring the team's target remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Seals Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was thrilled to learn that the triumph, which places her undefeated team at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the last-four. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from her partner later in the innings after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden World Cup Fifty
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her first World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-highest stand by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain dropped the easiest of edges off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a tough skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also take a clear catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as King Leads
Instead, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the target was made to look straightforward 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 star performer Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate going back to the next venue to face the English team and South Africa.”
