Alyssa Healy has executed outstanding back-to-back hundreds to guide her team into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a dominant 10-wicket trouncing over their opponents.
Healy finished unbeaten on 113, arriving just four days after her similarly impressive 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to race to their target of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I thought I was a below par behind the stumps, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the win and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the duo added 202 followed perhaps Australia’s shoddiest display in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial 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 delivered,” Healy continued.
Since data was first taken on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the six dropped opportunities represented the team's poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” Healy said.
It helped the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was crucial to ensuring the team's target remained manageable.
Healy Pleased with Victory that Seals Knockout Spot
Healy was pleased to learn that the victory, which places her undefeated side at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The experienced captain raced to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from her partner in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden Tournament Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her first tournament half-century off 46 balls soon after Healy reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain spilled the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a difficult 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 umpire turned down their shout.
The reinstated Brown bowled the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was still the team's most expensive bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Leads
In contrast, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Other spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened 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 the team to their record score against the Australians, but the total was rendered easy meat by a side who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India a few days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate returning to Indore to take on England and the Proteas.”
