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 Bangladesh.
Healy finished unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her equally stellar 142 that defeated the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated double-century first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to dash to their target of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a below par behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s chase as the pair added 202 came after perhaps Australia’s weakest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for spilling a couple of the six catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily got the job done,” Healy continued.
From the time data was first recorded on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities represented Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” the captain said.
It helped Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was crucial to ensuring the team's chase remained manageable.
Healy Pleased with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was pleased to learn that the triumph, which puts her undefeated team at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The experienced captain raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Impresses with First Tournament Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and a six, reaching to her first tournament fifty off 46 balls soon after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain spilled the simplest of chances off a teammate and also failed to grasp a tough skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire rejected their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record score against the Aussies, but the target was made to look easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 runs against India a few days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked star performer King. “No doubt it won't end here. We look forward to going back to Indore to take on England and South Africa.”
