Alyssa Healy has delivered brilliant back-to-back hundreds to steer her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, driving them to a merciless comprehensive win over Bangladesh.
Healy finished not out on 113, coming just four days after her similarly impressive 142-run knock that defeated hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their goal of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a not at my best with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of the day's chase as the duo put on 202 followed perhaps the team's weakest display in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for dropping two of the six chances that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and fortunately delivered,” she added.
Since data was initially taken on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed catches represented the team's poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” Healy said.
It helped the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever total in an ODI against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maidens, was crucial to making sure the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Win that Confirms Knockout Place
Healy was thrilled to discover that the victory, which puts her undefeated team at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her first World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries soon after Healy got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, the captain spilled the easiest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a difficult skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the official turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Brown sent down the fastest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the team's most expensive bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Other spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the target was rendered straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked star performer King. “Certainly it won't end here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to face England and South Africa.”
