Alyssa Healy has delivered brilliant back-to-back hundreds to guide her squad into the last four of the World Cup, driving them to a commanding comprehensive trouncing over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113, arriving just a few days after her equally brilliant 142 that defeated the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to chase to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a below par behind the stumps, and perhaps a bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the duo put on 202 runs came after possibly the team's poorest performance in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for dropping a couple of the half-dozen catches 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 luckily delivered,” Healy continued.
Since data was first recorded on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities represented the team's worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken 10-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was crucial to ensuring the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Seals Knockout Spot
Healy was thrilled to learn that the victory, which places her undefeated team at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the fastest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from her partner later in the knock after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 fours and a six, reaching to her first tournament half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, Healy dropped the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a tough skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean catch off Brown but failed to review when the umpire rejected their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the team's most expensive bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, led by King, whose spell could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Other spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's not out 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever total 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 before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate returning to Indore to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
