Alyssa Healy has executed superb back-to-back hundreds to lead her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a merciless comprehensive trouncing over their opponents.
Healy remained not out on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her similarly impressive 142 that saw off the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to chase to their goal of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and probably a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the utmost professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo added 202 runs followed perhaps Australia’s shoddiest display in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for spilling a couple of the half-dozen chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and luckily got the job done,” she added.
Since data was initially taken on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed catches marked Australia’s worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” Healy commented.
It helped Bangladesh to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken 10-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was vital to making sure Australia’s target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was thrilled to learn that the victory, which places her unbeaten team top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the last-four. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper sped to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with First Tournament Fifty
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her maiden tournament half-century off 46 balls soon after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-highest stand by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain spilled the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a tough lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean catch off Brown but failed to review when the official turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was still the team's most expensive bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spinners Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while 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 Bangladesh to their record score against the Aussies, but the total was rendered straightforward 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’ beside your name in a global tournament,” said star performer King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to face England and South Africa.”
