Alyssa Healy has executed brilliant consecutive hundreds to lead her squad into the last four of the World Cup, inspiring them to a commanding comprehensive win over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her similarly stellar 142 that saw off the Indian team at the same Vizag venue. This time, she combined in an undefeated 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84no) to race to their goal 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 today, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s chase as the pair put on 202 came after possibly the team's poorest performance in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in particular for dropping a couple of the six catches 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 fortunately got the job done,” she added.
Since statistics was first taken on fielding statistics in 2013, the six dropped catches represented the team'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 an issue we’ll analyze,” the captain said.
It helped the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was crucial to making sure the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Pleased with Win that Seals Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was pleased to learn that the victory, which puts her undefeated team at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The experienced captain raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from her partner in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden World Cup Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 balls shortly after Healy reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, Healy dropped the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp 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 official turned down their shout.
The reinstated Brown bowled the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the spinners excelled, led by King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took the team to their record score against the Aussies, but the total was made to look easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate going back to the next venue to face England and South Africa.”
