Alyssa Healy has produced brilliant back-to-back hundreds to steer her team into the last four of the World Cup, motivating them to a merciless 10-wicket victory over their opponents.
Healy remained not out on 113, arriving just four days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that defeated hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to chase to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a below par with the gloves, and probably a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the utmost professionalism of the day's run-chase as the pair added 202 followed perhaps Australia’s weakest display in the field under the captain's leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for dropping a couple of the six chances that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and fortunately delivered,” Healy continued.
Since statistics was initially recorded on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed catches marked the team's poorest fielding showing 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 commented.
It helped the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their highest score in an ODI against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was vital to ensuring Australia’s target remained manageable.
Healy Pleased with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was pleased to discover that the victory, which puts her undefeated team at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from her partner later in the knock after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her first tournament fifty off 46 deliveries soon after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-highest stand by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, the captain dropped the simplest of edges off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Stars
Instead, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the total was rendered straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against India a few days earlier.
“It's great 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 face England and South Africa.”
