Alyssa Healy has delivered brilliant consecutive centuries to steer her team into the last four of the World Cup, driving them to a merciless comprehensive trouncing over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten 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 unbroken double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) to chase to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a not at my best with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of the day's chase as the pair added 202 runs followed possibly Australia’s shoddiest performance in the field under the captain's leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for spilling two of the six chances that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily succeeded,” Healy continued.
Since data was first taken on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches represented the team's poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll review,” the captain said.
It helped Bangladesh to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever score in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken ten-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was key to making sure the team's chase remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Victory that Seals Knockout Place
The Australian skipper 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 last-four. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she faced as she accelerated from her partner later in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with First Tournament Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her first World Cup fifty off 46 balls shortly after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy dropped the easiest of chances off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a tough lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clear catch off Brown but failed to review when the umpire turned down their shout.
The recalled Brown sent down the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was still the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Stars
Instead, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Other spinners Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record 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 anticipate returning to Indore to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
