Alyssa Healy has executed brilliant back-to-back hundreds to lead her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, motivating them to a merciless 10-wicket trouncing over their opponents.
Healy finished not out on 113 runs, coming just four days after her similarly brilliant 142-run knock that defeated hosts India at the identical Vizag venue. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to chase to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and perhaps a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s chase as the duo put on 202 followed possibly Australia’s poorest display in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in particular for dropping a couple of the half-dozen catches 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 fortunately succeeded,” Healy continued.
From the time statistics was initially taken on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the six dropped catches represented Australia’s poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” the captain said.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding continuous 10-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maidens, was key to making sure the team's chase remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Seals Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was pleased to discover that the victory, which places her undefeated team at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That's great news,” she said.
The 35-year-old skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she accelerated from her partner later in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Shines with First World Cup Fifty
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 deliveries soon after her partner got there off 43. They went on to record the third-best stand by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, the captain dropped the easiest of chances off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a tough lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clean catch off Brown but failed to review when the official turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Brown bowled the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the spinners thrived, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Other spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record score against the Aussies, but the total was rendered easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to the next venue to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
