Alyssa Healy Hammers Another Century to Send Australia into Cricket World Cup Semi-Finals
Alyssa Healy has executed outstanding consecutive hundreds to steer her squad into the last four of the World Cup, driving them to a merciless 10-wicket win over their opponents.
Healy finished not out on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her equally brilliant 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to race to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I thought I was a not at my best with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the win and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the duo added 202 followed possibly Australia’s weakest display in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the captain scolding herself in especial for dropping two of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and fortunately succeeded,” Healy continued.
From the time data was initially taken on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the six dropped opportunities represented the team's poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” Healy commented.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their highest score in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding continuous 10-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was crucial to ensuring the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was delighted to learn that the victory, which places her undefeated side top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with First World Cup Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and a six, getting to her maiden tournament half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy got there off 43. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, Healy spilled the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a tough skied one off another bowler. 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 reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was still the team's costliest bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Stars
Instead, the spinners thrived, led by Alana King, whose spell could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record total against the Australians, but the total was rendered easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India four days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to Indore to face the English team and South Africa.”