Alyssa Healy Fires Another Hundred to Send the Australian Team into Cricket World Cup Semi-Finals
The Australian skipper has executed brilliant back-to-back centuries to steer her squad into the last four of the World Cup, driving them to a commanding 10-wicket trouncing over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her similarly impressive 142 that saw off hosts India at the same Vizag venue. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to chase to their target of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a below par with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair added 202 runs followed perhaps Australia’s weakest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in particular for dropping a couple 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 batting, and luckily delivered,” she added.
From the time statistics was initially recorded on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the six missed catches represented the team's worst fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” Healy commented.
It helped the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their highest total in an One-Day International against Australia, with a key batter scoring the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King mesmeric continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was key to ensuring the team's target remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Place
Healy was pleased to learn that the victory, which places her undefeated side at the top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain sped to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from her partner later in the knock after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Impresses with First Tournament Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her first tournament fifty off 46 deliveries soon after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Australian pair at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain dropped the simplest of chances off a teammate and also failed to grasp a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clear catch off Brown but failed to review when the umpire rejected their appeal.
The recalled Brown bowled the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Stars
Instead, the spinners thrived, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the total was made to look straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India a few days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We look forward to going back to the next venue to face England and the Proteas.”