Alyssa Healy has executed brilliant consecutive centuries to lead her team into the last four of the World Cup, driving them to a dominant 10-wicket win over their opponents.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her equally stellar 142 that saw off the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an undefeated double-century first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to dash to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 overs.
“I thought I was a below par behind the stumps, and perhaps a bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair put on 202 followed possibly Australia’s poorest display in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for dropping two of the half-dozen chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and luckily delivered,” she added.
Since data was initially taken on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the six dropped catches marked the team's worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” the captain said.
It helped the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever score in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning 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 ensuring the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Confirms Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was thrilled to learn that the victory, which puts 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 semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The experienced captain sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries soon after Healy reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best stand by any Australian pair at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, Healy spilled the simplest of chances off a teammate and also failed to grasp a tough lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clear catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the official turned down their appeal.
The recalled Brown bowled the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, led by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the total was rendered straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it won't end here. We look forward to going back to the next venue to take on England and the Proteas.”
