Alyssa Healy has produced brilliant consecutive hundreds to guide her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, driving them to a dominant 10-wicket victory over their opponents.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just four days after her similarly brilliant 142 that saw off the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an undefeated double-century first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to dash to their target of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I thought I was a below par behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of the day's run-chase as the pair put on 202 runs followed perhaps Australia’s weakest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the captain scolding herself in particular for dropping two of the six catches that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and fortunately delivered,” Healy continued.
From the time statistics was first taken on fielding statistics in 2013, the six dropped opportunities marked Australia’s worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever score in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter compiling the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken 10-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was crucial to making sure the team's chase remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was thrilled to discover that the triumph, which places her undefeated side top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her hundred 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 later in the innings after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, getting to her first World Cup fifty off 46 balls shortly after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy dropped the easiest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a difficult skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clear catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Brown bowled the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was still the team's costliest bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, led by King, whose spell could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their record score against the Australians, but the total was made to look straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 runs against India four days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked star performer Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We look forward to going back to the next venue to take on the English team and South Africa.”
