Alyssa Healy has delivered superb consecutive hundreds to lead her squad into the last four of the World Cup, driving them to a dominant comprehensive victory over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her similarly stellar 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of the day's run-chase as the pair put on 202 runs came after perhaps Australia’s poorest display in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for spilling a couple of the six chances that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and luckily got the job done,” she added.
Since data was first taken on fielding statistics in 2013, the six dropped opportunities marked the team's poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” Healy commented.
It helped Bangladesh to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever total 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 spellbinding unbroken ten-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was crucial to ensuring the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Win that Seals Knockout Spot
Healy was pleased to discover that the triumph, which places her undefeated side 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 great news,” she said.
The experienced skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she accelerated from her partner later in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with First World Cup Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her maiden tournament half-century off 46 balls shortly after Healy reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy spilled the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a tough lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear catch off Brown but failed to review when the official rejected their shout.
The recalled Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, led by King, whose spell could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and another's not out 66 off 80 deliveries took the team to their record total against the Australians, but the total was rendered straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked star performer Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to the next venue to take on England and the Proteas.”
