Alyssa Healy Hammers Another Century to Propel the Australian Team into Cricket World Cup Final Four
The Australian skipper has produced outstanding back-to-back centuries to guide her squad into the last four of the World Cup, driving them to a commanding 10-wicket victory over Bangladesh.
Healy remained not out on 113, coming just a few days after her equally brilliant 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the identical Vizag venue. This time, she combined in an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to dash to their target of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a below par behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of the day's run-chase as the pair added 202 runs came after perhaps the team's shoddiest display in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for dropping a couple of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and fortunately succeeded,” Healy continued.
Since data was initially taken on fielding statistics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches marked Australia’s worst fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” Healy said.
It helped Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their highest score in an One-Day International against Australia, with a key batter scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric continuous ten-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was crucial to ensuring the team's chase remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
Healy was thrilled to learn that the triumph, which places her unbeaten side top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a place in the last-four. “That's great news,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls 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 Impresses with Maiden Tournament Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her first World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, 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 take a clear chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The recalled Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as King Stars
Instead, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and another's not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the target was made to look straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 against the Indian side four days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match King. “No doubt it won't end here. We look forward to going back to the next venue to face England and the Proteas.”