Alyssa Healy Hammers a Second Century to Power the Australian Team into World Cup Final Four
The Australian skipper has delivered superb consecutive hundreds to steer her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a commanding comprehensive win over their opponents.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her similarly impressive 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to chase to their target of 199 in just under 25 overs.
“I felt I was a below par with the gloves, and probably a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo added 202 runs came after possibly Australia’s shoddiest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in particular for dropping a couple of the six chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily got the job done,” Healy continued.
Since data was initially recorded on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the six dropped opportunities represented the team's worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain said.
It helped Bangladesh to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their highest total in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken ten-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was crucial to making sure Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Victory that Seals Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was delighted to learn that the victory, which puts 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 great news,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her first tournament half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Australian pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain dropped the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their shout.
The reinstated Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the tournament 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 Alana King Leads
Instead, the spinners thrived, led by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's not out 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record total against the Aussies, but the target was made to look easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 runs against India a few days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said star performer King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to Indore to face England and the Proteas.”