Alyssa Healy has produced brilliant consecutive hundreds to guide her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, driving them to a merciless 10-wicket victory over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113 runs, coming just four days after her similarly impressive 142 that defeated hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam 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 in just under 25 overs.
“I felt I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the win and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s chase as the pair put on 202 runs followed perhaps the team's poorest display in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for spilling a couple of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and fortunately succeeded,” Healy continued.
Since data was initially recorded on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the six dropped opportunities represented Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” the captain said.
It helped Bangladesh to manage 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their highest total 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 continuous ten-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was key to making sure the team's chase remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Victory that Seals Knockout Place
Healy was thrilled to learn that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten team at the top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That's great news,” she said.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from her partner later in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden World Cup Fifty
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries soon after her partner got there off 43. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain dropped the easiest of edges off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clean catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire rejected their shout.
The recalled Brown bowled the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the team's costliest bowling option, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record total against the Aussies, but the target was made to look easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against India four days earlier.
“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 won't end here. We look forward to returning to Indore to face England and the Proteas.”