Alyssa Healy has executed brilliant back-to-back hundreds to steer her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, inspiring them to a merciless comprehensive win over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her equally stellar 142 that defeated the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (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 captain as well tonight, but we’ll take the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of the day's chase as the duo added 202 followed possibly Australia’s weakest display in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for dropping a couple of the six chances that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily delivered,” Healy continued.
From the time statistics was initially taken on fielding metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities marked the team'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.
It helped the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever total in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was key to ensuring Australia’s target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Confirms Knockout Place
Healy was thrilled to discover that the triumph, which places her unbeaten team at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the fastest 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 knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden World Cup Fifty
Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 balls shortly after Healy reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, Healy spilled the easiest of chances off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clear catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their shout.
The reinstated Brown bowled the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spinners Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 balls took the team to their record total against the Aussies, but the total was rendered straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against the Indian side four days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” said star performer Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We look forward to returning to Indore to take on England and South Africa.”
