Alyssa Healy has produced superb back-to-back centuries to lead her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a dominant 10-wicket trouncing over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113, arriving just a few days after her equally brilliant 142 that saw off the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) to dash to their target of 199 in just under 25 overs.
“I felt 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 supreme professionalism of the day's run-chase as the pair put on 202 followed possibly Australia’s weakest performance in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for dropping a couple of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily got the job done,” she added.
From the time statistics was initially taken on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the six missed opportunities marked Australia’s poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” Healy said.
It helped the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against Australia, with a key batter compiling the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken ten-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maidens, was key to ensuring the team's target remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Confirms Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was delighted to learn that the victory, which places her unbeaten team top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, guarantees 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 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with Maiden Tournament Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her maiden tournament half-century off 46 balls soon after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, Healy dropped the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean catch off Brown but failed to review when the official turned down their appeal.
The recalled Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowler, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the total was rendered straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 runs against India four days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “No doubt it won't end here. We look forward to returning to Indore to face the English team and the Proteas.”
