Alyssa Healy has produced brilliant back-to-back hundreds to guide her team into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a commanding 10-wicket win over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113, arriving just a few days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an undefeated double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their target of 199 in just under 25 overs.
“I felt I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and probably a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair added 202 came after perhaps the team's weakest display in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for dropping a couple of the six catches that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily delivered,” she added.
From the time data was first recorded on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches marked Australia’s worst fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” the captain said.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against Australia, with a key batter scoring the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous 10-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was vital to making sure the team's target remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Win that Confirms Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was thrilled to learn that the victory, which puts her unbeaten side at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her first 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.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain dropped the easiest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to hold on to a tough lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clean catch off Brown but failed to review when the umpire turned down their shout.
The recalled 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
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Other spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record score against the Australians, but the target was rendered straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side four days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said star performer Alana King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to Indore to take on the English team and South Africa.”
