Alyssa Healy has delivered brilliant back-to-back centuries to steer her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, driving them to a commanding comprehensive win over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her equally impressive 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an undefeated double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to race to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a below par behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of the day's chase as the pair added 202 runs followed possibly Australia’s weakest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for spilling a couple of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and luckily delivered,” she added.
Since statistics was first recorded on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities marked the team's worst fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” Healy said.
It helped the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat first, their highest total in an ODI against Australia, with a key batter scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous 10-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was key to ensuring the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Spot
Healy was pleased to discover that the victory, which places her unbeaten team at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden World Cup Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 balls shortly after Healy got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain dropped the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a tough lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown sent down the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took the team to their record total against the Australians, but the target was made to look straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 against India four days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to Indore to take on England and South Africa.”
