Healy Fires Another Hundred to Send the Australian Team into World Cup Semi-Finals
Alyssa Healy has delivered superb consecutive hundreds to guide her team into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a merciless 10-wicket win over Bangladesh.
Healy finished unbeaten on 113, arriving just four days after her equally stellar 142 that defeated the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to chase to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 overs.
“I thought I was a below par with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of the day's run-chase as the pair put on 202 runs came after possibly the team's poorest display in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the captain scolding herself in particular for spilling a couple of the half-dozen chances that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and fortunately succeeded,” Healy continued.
Since statistics was first recorded on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches represented Australia’s worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll review,” Healy commented.
This allowed Bangladesh to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against Australia, with a key batter scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous 10-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was crucial to ensuring Australia’s target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Confirms Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was delighted to discover that the victory, which puts her undefeated team top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with Maiden World Cup Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 deliveries soon after Healy reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, Healy dropped the easiest of edges off a teammate and also failed to grasp a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also take a clear chance off Brown but failed to review when the official rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Stars
Instead, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their record score against the Australians, but the target was made to look easy meat by a side who had chased down 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 star performer Alana King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to the next venue to face the English team and South Africa.”