Alyssa Healy has produced brilliant back-to-back hundreds to guide her squad into the last four of the World Cup, driving them to a merciless 10-wicket win over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her similarly brilliant 142 that saw off the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and probably a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo added 202 runs came after perhaps the team's shoddiest display in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in particular for spilling a couple of the half-dozen chances 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 luckily got the job done,” Healy continued.
Since statistics was first recorded on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the six dropped opportunities represented the team's poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” Healy said.
It helped the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever total in an ODI against Australia, with a key batter compiling the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she took 2-18 with four maidens, was vital to ensuring Australia’s target remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Seals Knockout Place
Healy was thrilled to discover that the triumph, which places her unbeaten team top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her first World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, Healy spilled the easiest of chances off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clean chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their shout.
The recalled Brown bowled the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the total was rendered straightforward by a side who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said star performer King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate going back to Indore to face the English team and South Africa.”
