Alyssa Healy has produced superb consecutive hundreds to lead her team into the last four of the World Cup, motivating them to a dominant comprehensive trouncing over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her similarly impressive 142 that saw off the Indian team at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to dash to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 overs.
“I thought I was a below par with the gloves, and probably a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the utmost professionalism of the day's run-chase as the pair added 202 followed possibly Australia’s poorest display in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for dropping a couple of the six catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and fortunately succeeded,” Healy continued.
From the time data was initially taken on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the half-dozen missed catches marked Australia’s poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain said.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their highest score in an ODI against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was key to making sure Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Win that Seals Semi-Final Spot
Healy was pleased to learn that the victory, which places her undefeated side top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That's great news,” she said.
The 35-year-old skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with Maiden Tournament Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and a six, reaching to her first tournament fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Australian pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, Healy spilled the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a tough skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the team's costliest bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to 13.
A batter's 44 and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the total was rendered straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side a few days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to Indore to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
