Alyssa Healy has executed superb back-to-back hundreds to steer her squad into the last four of the World Cup, inspiring them to a commanding comprehensive victory over Bangladesh.
Healy finished not out on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her similarly brilliant 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the identical Vizag venue. This time, she combined in an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their target of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and probably a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the win and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s chase as the duo added 202 came after possibly the team's weakest display in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for dropping two of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately delivered,” Healy continued.
Since statistics was first recorded on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities represented Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” Healy said.
It helped Bangladesh to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever score in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous ten-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was crucial to making sure the team's target remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was pleased to discover that the triumph, which puts her undefeated side at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with First Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, getting to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 balls shortly after Healy reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain spilled the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official turned down their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowler, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as King Leads
Instead, the spinners thrived, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took the team to their record total against the Aussies, but the target was made to look easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side a few days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked star performer Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to Indore to take on England and the Proteas.”
