Alyssa Healy has delivered outstanding back-to-back centuries to steer her team into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a dominant comprehensive win over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her equally impressive 142 that defeated hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an undefeated double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to dash to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and probably a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and progress,” she said.
Ironically, the utmost expertise of the day's chase as the pair added 202 followed perhaps the team's poorest display in the field under the captain's leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in particular 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 batting, and luckily succeeded,” she added.
From the time data was initially recorded on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the half-dozen missed catches marked Australia’s poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain said.
This allowed the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding continuous ten-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maidens, was key to ensuring the team's target remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Place
Healy was thrilled to learn that the triumph, which places her undefeated side at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The experienced skipper sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from her partner later in the knock after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, getting to her first World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain dropped the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was still the team's most expensive bowler, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Other spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the total was made to look straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 against the Indian side a few days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked star performer King. “No doubt it won't end here. We look forward to returning to Indore to face the English team and the Proteas.”
