Alyssa Healy has delivered superb back-to-back hundreds to steer her squad into the last four of the World Cup, motivating them to a dominant 10-wicket win over their opponents.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113, arriving just a few days after her equally brilliant 142 that saw off hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their target of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a below par behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of the day's run-chase as the pair added 202 runs came after perhaps the team's poorest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for spilling a couple of the half-dozen chances that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately delivered,” Healy continued.
From the time statistics was initially taken on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches marked the team's worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.
It helped the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against Australia, with a key batter compiling the maiden half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken 10-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was key to making sure the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Win that Seals Semi-Final Place
Healy was delighted to discover that the triumph, which places her undefeated team top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Shines with Maiden World Cup Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and a six, reaching to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 balls shortly after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-highest stand by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, Healy dropped the easiest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a tough lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official turned down their appeal.
The reinstated 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 slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spinners Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record total against the Aussies, but the target was rendered straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 against India a few days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to face England and the Proteas.”
