Alyssa Healy has delivered outstanding consecutive hundreds to guide her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, inspiring them to a merciless 10-wicket trouncing over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her equally stellar 142 that defeated the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an undefeated 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84no) 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 bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll take the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of the day's chase as the pair added 202 runs followed possibly the team's weakest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the captain scolding herself in especial for spilling two of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily delivered,” Healy continued.
From the time statistics was first recorded on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the half-dozen missed catches represented the team's poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” the captain commented.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against Australia, with a key batter compiling the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken 10-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was crucial to making sure the team's chase remained manageable.
Healy Pleased with Win that Seals Knockout Spot
Healy was thrilled to learn that the victory, which places her unbeaten team top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from her partner in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with Maiden World Cup Fifty
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her first World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries soon after her partner got there off 43. They went on to record the third-highest stand by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, Healy spilled the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their shout.
The reinstated Brown bowled the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as King Stars
In contrast, the spinners thrived, led by Alana King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the target was made to look easy meat by a side who had successfully pursued 330 against India four days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked star performer Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to Indore to take on England and the Proteas.”
