Alyssa Healy has executed outstanding back-to-back hundreds to guide her team into the last four of the World Cup, motivating them to a dominant 10-wicket victory over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her similarly impressive 142 that defeated the Indian team at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to race to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a below par behind the stumps, and probably a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the utmost professionalism of the day's run-chase as the duo added 202 runs followed possibly the team's weakest performance in the field 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 bat, and luckily delivered,” Healy continued.
From the time data was initially recorded on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities represented 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 said.
This allowed the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest total in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But Alana King mesmeric continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was vital to ensuring Australia’s target remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was pleased to learn that the triumph, which places her undefeated side at the top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden World Cup Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and a six, reaching to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 balls soon after her partner got there off 43. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, the captain spilled the simplest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to hold on to a difficult skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clean chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the official turned down their shout.
The reinstated Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowler, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her total to 13.
A batter's 44 and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the target was rendered straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 runs against India four days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked star performer King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to Indore to face the English team and the Proteas.”
