Alyssa Healy Hammers a Second Century to Send the Australian Team into Cricket World Cup Knockout Stage
The Australian skipper has executed brilliant back-to-back centuries to steer her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, motivating them to a merciless comprehensive win over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113, coming just a few days after her equally impressive 142 that saw off hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I thought I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and probably a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the win and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of the day's chase as the pair added 202 followed possibly Australia’s weakest performance in the field under the captain's leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for spilling two of the six 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 batting, and fortunately succeeded,” Healy continued.
From the time data was initially taken on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities marked Australia’s worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll review,” Healy said.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever score in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter compiling the maiden half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was vital to ensuring the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Pleased with Victory that Seals Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was pleased to learn that the victory, which puts her undefeated team at the top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls 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.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, getting to her first tournament half-century off 46 balls shortly after Healy got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain dropped the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a difficult skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean catch off Brown but failed to review when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The recalled Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowler, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, 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 (two for 22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's not out 66 off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the total was made to look straightforward by a side who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We look forward to returning to Indore to face the English team and South Africa.”