Alyssa Healy Blasts a Second Century to Send Australia into Cricket World Cup Knockout Stage
The Australian skipper has produced brilliant consecutive hundreds to steer her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, inspiring them to a dominant comprehensive trouncing over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her similarly impressive 142 that saw off the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to dash to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 overs.
“I thought I was a not at my best with the gloves, and probably a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of the day's run-chase as the pair put on 202 came after perhaps the team's shoddiest performance in the field under the captain's leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for spilling two of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily got the job done,” she added.
From the time statistics was initially recorded on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches marked the team's poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” the captain commented.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their highest score in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken 10-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was crucial to making sure Australia’s target remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Seals Knockout Spot
Healy was delighted to discover that the triumph, which puts her undefeated team at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The experienced skipper raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century 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 boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Impresses with First Tournament Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her first World Cup fifty off 46 balls shortly after Healy got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, Healy spilled the simplest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clean chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Other spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the target was made to look straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “No doubt it won't end here. We look forward to returning to Indore to face the English team and South Africa.”