Alyssa Healy has executed superb back-to-back centuries to guide her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, driving them to a merciless comprehensive victory over their opponents.
Healy finished unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her similarly stellar 142 that defeated the Indian team at the same Vizag venue. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to chase to their target of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of the day's chase as the pair put on 202 followed perhaps Australia’s shoddiest performance in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in especial for spilling a couple of the half-dozen chances that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately delivered,” she added.
From the time statistics was first taken on fielding metrics in 2013, the six missed opportunities marked the team's worst fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever total in an ODI against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she took 2-18 with four maidens, was crucial to ensuring Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Win that Confirms Knockout Place
Healy was pleased to discover that the triumph, which puts her undefeated side top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the last-four. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Impresses with First Tournament Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and a six, reaching to her maiden tournament half-century off 46 deliveries soon after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain dropped the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clear chance off Brown but failed to review when the official turned down their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as King Leads
In contrast, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the target was rendered straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 against the Indian side four days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to Indore to take on England and the Proteas.”
