Alyssa Healy has executed superb consecutive hundreds to lead her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, inspiring them to a merciless comprehensive victory over their opponents.
Healy finished unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her similarly impressive 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to dash to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and perhaps a bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll take the win and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of the day's chase as the pair put on 202 runs came after perhaps the team's shoddiest display in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in particular for dropping two of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and fortunately succeeded,” Healy continued.
Since statistics was first taken on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the six dropped catches represented Australia’s worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” the captain commented.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever total in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was key to making sure Australia’s target remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Place
Healy was pleased to discover that the triumph, which places her undefeated team at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her first tournament half-century off 46 deliveries soon after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, Healy dropped the easiest of chances off a teammate and also failed to grasp a difficult skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The recalled Brown sent down the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was still the team's costliest bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Leads
Instead, the spinners thrived, led by King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Other spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the total was rendered easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 runs against India a few days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate returning to Indore to face England and South Africa.”
