Alyssa Healy Hammers a Second Ton to Propel the Australian Team into World Cup Semi-Finals
Alyssa Healy has produced outstanding consecutive hundreds to guide her squad into the last four of the World Cup, driving them to a commanding comprehensive victory over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113, coming just a few days after her similarly impressive 142 that saw off hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to dash to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I thought I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and probably a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair added 202 followed perhaps the team's shoddiest display in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for dropping two of the six chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and fortunately got the job done,” Healy continued.
Since statistics was first taken on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the six dropped catches represented the team's poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” the captain commented.
It helped the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken ten-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was vital to making sure Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Place
Healy was thrilled to discover that the triumph, which places her unbeaten side at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The 35-year-old skipper sped to her century 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 Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 fours and a six, reaching to her first tournament half-century off 46 balls soon after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Australian pair at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, Healy spilled the simplest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to hold on to a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also take a clear chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their shout.
The reinstated Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the team's costliest bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Leads
In contrast, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Other spinners Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 and another's not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the total was rendered easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to the next venue to take on the English team and the Proteas.”