Healy Blasts Another Hundred to Send the Australian Team into World Cup Semi-Finals
Alyssa Healy has executed brilliant back-to-back hundreds to guide her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, driving them to a dominant comprehensive win over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113, arriving just a few days after her similarly impressive 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an undefeated 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to dash to their target of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I thought I was a not at my best with the gloves, and probably a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the utmost professionalism of the day's run-chase as the pair put on 202 runs followed perhaps the team's weakest display in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for spilling two of the half-dozen chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately got the job done,” she added.
From the time statistics was first recorded on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the six dropped opportunities marked Australia’s poorest 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 something we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against Australia, with a key batter compiling the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was vital to ensuring the team's target remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Seals Knockout Spot
Healy was delighted to learn that the triumph, which places her unbeaten side top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the fastest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden World Cup Fifty
Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 fours and a six, reaching to her first World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy got there off 43. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, Healy dropped the easiest of edges off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a difficult skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean chance off Brown but failed to review when the official rejected their shout.
The reinstated Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, led by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Other spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record total against the Aussies, but the target was made to look easy meat by a side who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked star performer King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to Indore to take on England and South Africa.”