Alyssa Healy Blasts Another Hundred to Power Australia into Cricket World Cup Knockout Stage
Alyssa Healy has produced outstanding back-to-back centuries to steer her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a merciless 10-wicket victory over Bangladesh.
Healy finished unbeaten on 113, arriving just four days after her equally brilliant 142 that defeated the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a below par with the gloves, and probably a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of the day's run-chase as the pair put on 202 came after perhaps Australia’s shoddiest display in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for dropping two of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and fortunately got the job done,” she added.
From the time data was initially recorded on fielding metrics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities represented the team's worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever total in an ODI against Australia, with a key batter scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was vital to ensuring the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Win that Confirms Knockout Spot
Healy was thrilled to learn that the victory, which places her unbeaten side top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with Maiden World Cup Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 balls soon after her partner got there off 43. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain dropped the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their shout.
The recalled Darcie Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record total against the Aussies, but the target was rendered straightforward by a side who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side four days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said star performer King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to take on England and South Africa.”