Alyssa Healy has produced brilliant consecutive hundreds to guide her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a commanding comprehensive victory over their opponents.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her similarly stellar 142-run knock that defeated hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84no) to race to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and progress,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the pair put on 202 followed perhaps Australia’s poorest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the captain scolding herself in particular for spilling two of the six chances that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and fortunately got the job done,” Healy continued.
Since data was initially taken on fielding metrics in 2013, the half-dozen missed catches represented Australia’s worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” the captain commented.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their highest total in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was vital to ensuring the team's chase remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Seals Semi-Final Place
Healy was thrilled to discover that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten side at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That's great news,” she said.
The experienced skipper sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden Tournament Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her maiden tournament half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, the captain dropped the simplest of edges off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a tough lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Brown bowled the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by King, whose spell could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Other spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the total was rendered easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 runs against India a few days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to Indore to face England and the Proteas.”
