Alyssa Healy has produced outstanding consecutive hundreds to lead her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, driving them to a commanding 10-wicket trouncing over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her similarly impressive 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) to chase to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 overs.
“I thought I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and probably a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s chase as the pair added 202 runs came after possibly the team's weakest display in the field under the captain's leadership, with the captain scolding herself in especial for dropping a couple of the six chances that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately got the job done,” Healy continued.
Since statistics was initially recorded on fielding metrics in 2013, the six dropped catches marked Australia’s worst fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” Healy said.
It helped Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest total in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous 10-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was vital to ensuring the team's target remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Confirms Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was pleased to discover that the triumph, which places her undefeated side at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, secures them a place in the last-four. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the fastest century of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden World Cup Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 balls shortly after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-highest stand by any Australian pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain dropped the simplest of chances off a teammate 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 umpire rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, led by King, whose spell could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the target was rendered straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it won't end here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to face the English team and the Proteas.”
