Alyssa Healy has executed superb consecutive centuries to steer her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, driving them to a merciless 10-wicket win over their opponents.
Healy remained not out on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her similarly stellar 142 that saw off the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to chase to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s chase as the duo added 202 followed perhaps Australia’s poorest display in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in especial for spilling a couple of the half-dozen chances that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily delivered,” she added.
From the time statistics was first taken on fielding statistics in 2013, the six dropped catches marked the team's poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll review,” Healy said.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest total in an ODI against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But Alana King mesmeric continuous 10-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was key to ensuring the team's chase remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Seals Knockout Place
Healy was pleased to discover that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten team at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That's great news,” she said.
The experienced captain raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from her partner later in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her first World Cup half-century off 46 balls soon after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, Healy spilled the easiest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear chance off Brown but failed to review when the umpire rejected their shout.
The reinstated Brown sent down the fastest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the spinners thrived, led by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the target was made to look straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 against India four days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” said star performer Alana King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to Indore to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
