Alyssa Healy has produced outstanding back-to-back hundreds to steer her squad into the last four of the World Cup, driving them to a dominant comprehensive trouncing over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113, arriving just a few days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the identical Vizag venue. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to chase to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a below par with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the win and progress,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the pair added 202 came after possibly the team's poorest display in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for spilling two of the six chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and luckily delivered,” she added.
Since data was initially taken on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the six missed opportunities marked the team's poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” Healy said.
It helped the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their highest total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken 10-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was crucial to making sure the team's target remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Win that Confirms Knockout Place
Healy was delighted to discover that the triumph, which places her undefeated team top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain raced to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from her partner in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden World Cup Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her first tournament fifty off 46 balls soon after Healy got there off 43. They went on to record the third-highest stand by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain spilled the simplest of chances off a teammate and also failed to grasp a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official turned down their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown sent down the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her position as the competition's top wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the total was rendered straightforward by a side who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India a few days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked star performer King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to Indore to face the English team and the Proteas.”
