Alyssa Healy has delivered superb consecutive centuries to steer her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, driving them to a dominant comprehensive victory over their opponents.
Healy remained not out on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her similarly brilliant 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race 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 captain as well today, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s chase as the pair added 202 runs followed perhaps Australia’s poorest display in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in particular for dropping two of the six chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately delivered,” Healy continued.
Since statistics was initially recorded on fielding statistics in 2013, the six missed catches marked the team's worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” the captain commented.
This allowed the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their highest total in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was vital to making sure Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Win that Confirms Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was delighted to learn that the victory, which places her undefeated side at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a place in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 fours and a six, getting to her first World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-highest stand by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain dropped the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear catch off Brown but failed to review when the official rejected their shout.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, led by Alana King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record score against the Aussies, but the total was rendered straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to Indore to take on England and the Proteas.”
