Alyssa Healy has executed outstanding back-to-back centuries to guide her team into the last four of the World Cup, inspiring them to a dominant comprehensive victory over their opponents.
Healy finished not out on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her similarly brilliant 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an undefeated double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to dash to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I thought I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and probably a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the utmost professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo put on 202 runs followed perhaps Australia’s shoddiest display in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for spilling two of the half-dozen chances 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.
Since statistics was first recorded on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the six missed catches marked the team's worst fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” the captain said.
This allowed Bangladesh to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever score in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous ten-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was vital to ensuring the team's target remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was pleased to discover that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten side at the top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from her partner later in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with First World Cup Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 balls soon after her partner got there off 43. They went on to record the third-highest stand by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain dropped the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the official turned down their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown sent down the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Other spinners Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took the team to their record score against the Aussies, but the target was rendered straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India four days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to Indore to face England and South Africa.”
