Alyssa Healy has delivered superb back-to-back hundreds to lead her team into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a merciless comprehensive trouncing over their opponents.
Healy finished unbeaten on 113, arriving just a few days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to chase to their target of 199 in just under 25 overs.
“I felt I was a below par behind the stumps, and probably a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of the day's run-chase as the duo put on 202 came after possibly the team's poorest performance in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for dropping a couple of the half-dozen chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately delivered,” she added.
Since data was first recorded on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the six dropped catches represented Australia’s worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain said.
It helped Bangladesh to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their highest score in an ODI against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric continuous ten-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maidens, was crucial to making sure the team's target remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Win that Seals Knockout Place
Healy was delighted to learn that the victory, which puts her undefeated team 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 great news,” she said.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden World Cup Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain spilled the easiest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clear catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the official turned down their appeal.
The recalled Brown bowled the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the team's costliest bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Other spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took the team to their record score against the Australians, but the target was rendered easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate going back to Indore to take on the English team and South Africa.”
