Alyssa Healy has executed superb consecutive hundreds to lead her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a commanding 10-wicket win over their opponents.
Healy finished unbeaten on 113, arriving just four days after her similarly brilliant 142 that saw off the Indian team at the identical Vizag venue. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to dash to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 overs.
“I thought I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the utmost professionalism of the day's chase as the duo added 202 followed perhaps the team's shoddiest performance in the field under the captain's leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for dropping two of the six chances that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily got the job done,” she added.
From the time data was first taken on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the six dropped opportunities marked 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 little while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” the captain said.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest score in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was vital to making sure Australia’s target remained manageable.
Healy Pleased with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was pleased to discover that the victory, which places her undefeated side at the top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper sped to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden World Cup Fifty
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her first World Cup fifty off 46 balls soon after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, the captain spilled the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the official turned down their shout.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowler, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the spinners thrived, led by King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took the team to their record score against the Australians, but the target was rendered easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to take on England and the Proteas.”
