Alyssa Healy has produced outstanding back-to-back hundreds to lead her squad into the last four of the World Cup, motivating them to a merciless 10-wicket trouncing over Bangladesh.
Healy finished not out on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her equally impressive 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to race to their target of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a below par with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the utmost professionalism 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 captain scolding herself in particular for dropping two of the half-dozen chances that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and luckily got the job done,” she added.
Since statistics was initially taken on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the six missed catches represented Australia’s worst fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” Healy commented.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their highest score in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was vital to making sure the team's target remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Seals Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was delighted to discover that the triumph, which puts her undefeated side top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the fastest 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 innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden Tournament Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her first tournament half-century off 46 deliveries soon after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Australian pair at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain spilled the easiest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to hold on to a tough skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Brown sent down the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Other spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record total against the Australians, but the total was rendered straightforward by a side who had successfully pursued 330 against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate returning to Indore to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
