Alyssa Healy has executed superb consecutive centuries to steer her team into the last four of the World Cup, motivating them to a dominant 10-wicket win over their opponents.
Healy finished not out on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her equally brilliant 142 that saw off the Indian team at the identical Vizag venue. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to race to their target of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a below par behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo added 202 came after possibly the team's weakest display in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for spilling 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 fortunately got the job done,” she added.
From the time statistics was first recorded on fielding statistics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities represented the team's poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” the captain said.
It helped the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their highest score in an One-Day International against Australia, with a key batter scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding continuous 10-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was vital to making sure Australia’s target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
Healy was thrilled to learn that the triumph, which places her undefeated team top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The experienced captain sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from her partner later in the knock after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Shines with First World Cup Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and a six, reaching to her first World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries soon after Healy got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy dropped the simplest of chances off a teammate and also failed to grasp a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the team's most expensive bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took the team to their record total against the Australians, but the target was made to look straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 against the Indian side four days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to Indore to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
