Alyssa Healy has delivered outstanding back-to-back centuries to steer her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, driving them to a merciless 10-wicket trouncing over Bangladesh.
Healy finished unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just four days after her equally stellar 142 that defeated the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a not at my best with the gloves, and probably a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and progress,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the duo put on 202 runs came after perhaps Australia’s poorest performance in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for dropping two of the six chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and luckily got the job done,” she added.
From the time data was first recorded on fielding statistics in 2013, the six missed catches marked the team's poorest 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 review,” Healy said.
This allowed Bangladesh to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their highest total in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was key to ensuring Australia’s chase remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Seals Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was delighted to discover that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten team top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, secures them a place in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with Maiden Tournament Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her maiden tournament half-century off 46 deliveries soon after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-best stand by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, Healy dropped the easiest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to hold on to a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clear chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowler, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Leads
Instead, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Other spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the total was made to look easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India four days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked star performer Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to Indore to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
