Alyssa Healy has executed outstanding back-to-back hundreds to guide her team into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a commanding 10-wicket win over their opponents.
Healy finished unbeaten on 113, coming just a few days after her equally brilliant 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to dash to their target of 199 in just under 25 overs.
“I thought I was a below par behind the stumps, and probably a bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the utmost professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo put on 202 followed possibly Australia’s weakest performance in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for dropping a couple of the six chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately got the job done,” she added.
From the time data was first recorded on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the six missed opportunities represented the team's worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” Healy said.
It helped the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever total in an ODI against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maidens, was key to ensuring Australia’s target remained manageable.
Healy Pleased with Win that Confirms Knockout Place
Healy was pleased to discover that the triumph, which puts her undefeated team at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from her partner later in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, getting to her first World Cup fifty off 46 balls soon after her partner got there off 43. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Australian pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain dropped the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a tough skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clear catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Leads
In contrast, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their record total against the Australians, but the target was made to look easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against India a few days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to Indore to take on the English team and South Africa.”
