Alyssa Healy has produced brilliant consecutive hundreds to steer her team into the last four of the World Cup, motivating them to a dominant comprehensive win over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113, arriving just a few days after her equally brilliant 142 that saw off the Indian team at the identical Vizag venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to dash to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a not at my best with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s chase as the pair added 202 came after perhaps the team's poorest display in the field under the captain's leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for dropping a couple of the six chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily got the job done,” she added.
Since data was first recorded on fielding statistics in 2013, the six dropped catches marked the team'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 analyze,” Healy commented.
It helped the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their highest total in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was crucial to ensuring the team's target remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Win that Confirms Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was thrilled to discover that the triumph, which places her undefeated team at the top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The experienced skipper raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest 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 practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with First Tournament Fifty
Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 balls soon after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy dropped the easiest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their shout.
The recalled Brown bowled the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and another's not out 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record total against the Australians, but the target was made to look easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 against the Indian side 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 anticipate going back to Indore to take on England and the Proteas.”
