Alyssa Healy has executed brilliant back-to-back centuries to guide her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, driving them to a dominant comprehensive win over their opponents.
Healy remained not out on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her similarly stellar 142-run knock that defeated hosts India at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to chase to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and probably a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of the day's run-chase as the pair put on 202 followed perhaps Australia’s shoddiest display in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for dropping two of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and fortunately got the job done,” Healy continued.
From the time statistics was initially taken on fielding metrics in 2013, the half-dozen missed catches represented Australia’s worst fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” the captain said.
It helped the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their highest score in an ODI against Australia, with a key batter scoring the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was key to making sure Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was delighted to learn that the victory, which puts her undefeated side at the top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from her partner later in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden World Cup Fifty
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 fours and a six, getting to her first World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner got there off 43. They went on to record the third-highest stand by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, Healy dropped the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clean catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the official rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and another's not out 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the total was made to look easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 against India a few days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to the next venue to face England and the Proteas.”
