Alyssa Healy has produced outstanding back-to-back hundreds to steer her team into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a merciless 10-wicket win over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113, coming just a few days after her similarly stellar 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the same Vizag venue. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to chase to their goal of 199 in just under 25 overs.
“I felt I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo added 202 followed perhaps the team's weakest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for spilling a couple of the six catches that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and luckily succeeded,” Healy continued.
From the time data was initially taken on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed catches marked Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.
It helped Bangladesh to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was key to ensuring the team's chase remained manageable.
Healy Pleased with Win that Confirms Knockout Place
Healy was thrilled to discover that the victory, which puts her undefeated side top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden World Cup Fifty
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 fours and a six, getting to her first World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries soon after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy dropped the simplest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a difficult skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean catch off Brown but failed to review when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The recalled Brown bowled the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was still the team's costliest bowling option, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, led by King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the target was made to look easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 against the Indian side four days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said star performer King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to take on the English team and South Africa.”
