Alyssa Healy Blasts Another Hundred to Send Australia into World Cup Final Four
The Australian skipper has produced outstanding consecutive hundreds to guide her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a commanding comprehensive trouncing over their opponents.
Healy finished unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just four days after her similarly stellar 142 that saw off the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an undefeated double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to dash to their target of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I thought I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and probably a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s chase as the pair put on 202 runs came after possibly Australia’s shoddiest display in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for dropping a couple of the half-dozen chances that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily succeeded,” she added.
Since data was initially taken on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the six missed catches marked Australia’s worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” Healy commented.
It helped Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their highest score in an ODI against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was crucial to making sure the team's chase remained manageable.
Healy Pleased with Victory that Confirms Knockout Place
Healy was pleased to learn that the triumph, which places her unbeaten side top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden World Cup Fifty
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 fours and a six, getting to her first World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries soon after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain dropped the easiest of edges off a teammate and also failed to grasp a tough lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the fastest balls at the World Cup 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 Leads
In contrast, the spinners excelled, led by King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the total was rendered easy meat by a side who had successfully pursued 330 against India a few days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to face the English team and the Proteas.”