Alyssa Healy has executed outstanding consecutive hundreds to guide her squad into the last four of the World Cup, motivating them to a commanding comprehensive win over their opponents.
Healy finished not out on 113, coming just four days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that defeated hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to chase to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 overs.
“I thought I was a not at my best with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of the day's chase as the duo added 202 followed possibly Australia’s weakest display in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for dropping a couple of the half-dozen chances that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily got the job done,” she added.
Since data was initially recorded on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the six dropped opportunities represented the team's worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest score in an ODI against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken ten-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was crucial to ensuring the team's target remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Place
Healy was thrilled to learn that the triumph, which places her undefeated side top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from her partner in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 fours and a six, reaching to her first tournament half-century off 46 balls soon after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy dropped the simplest of edges off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a tough lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also take a clean chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their shout.
The recalled Brown sent down the fastest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, led by Alana King, whose spell could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's not out 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record score against the Aussies, but the target was made to look straightforward by a side who had successfully pursued 330 against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to face England and South Africa.”
