Alyssa Healy has delivered brilliant consecutive centuries to guide her squad into the last four of the World Cup, driving them to a dominant 10-wicket trouncing over Bangladesh.
Healy remained not out on 113, coming just a few days after her equally impressive 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) to dash to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I thought I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and probably a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and progress,” she said.
Ironically, the utmost professionalism of the day's run-chase as the pair put on 202 runs followed perhaps Australia’s poorest display in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for spilling a couple of the half-dozen chances that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately got the job done,” she added.
Since statistics was first recorded on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities marked the team's poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.
It helped Bangladesh to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever score in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter compiling the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous ten-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was crucial to ensuring the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was delighted to discover that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten team at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with First Tournament Fifty
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 fours and a six, getting to her first World Cup half-century off 46 balls soon after her partner reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy spilled the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire rejected their shout.
The recalled Darcie Brown sent down the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as King Stars
Instead, the spinners excelled, led by King, whose spell could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Other spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the target was rendered easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side a few days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We look forward to going back to Indore to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
