Healy Blasts a Second Hundred to Send Australia into World Cup Semi-Finals
Alyssa Healy has executed outstanding back-to-back centuries to lead her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a commanding comprehensive win over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her equally brilliant 142 that saw off the Indian team at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to dash to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the utmost professionalism of the day's chase as the duo put on 202 runs came after possibly the team's shoddiest performance in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the captain scolding herself in especial for dropping a couple of the half-dozen chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately delivered,” she added.
From the time statistics was initially recorded on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the six dropped catches marked the team's worst 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,” the captain said.
It helped the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest total in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter compiling the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was crucial to making sure the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Spot
Healy was pleased to learn that the victory, which puts her undefeated side at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That's great news,” she said.
The experienced captain raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from her partner later in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with First World Cup Fifty
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 fours and a six, getting to her first World Cup fifty off 46 balls shortly after Healy reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain dropped the simplest of edges off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a difficult skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire turned down their shout.
The reinstated Brown bowled the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the total was rendered straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side four days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to Indore to take on the English team and South Africa.”