Alyssa Healy has executed brilliant back-to-back centuries to steer her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a commanding 10-wicket trouncing over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her equally stellar 142 that saw off hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an undefeated double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to dash to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a below par with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the utmost professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the pair put on 202 runs followed possibly the team's weakest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for dropping a couple of the half-dozen chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and luckily got the job done,” Healy continued.
From the time data was first taken on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the six dropped catches represented the team's worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” Healy said.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their highest total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken ten-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maidens, was crucial to making sure Australia’s chase remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Seals Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was delighted to learn that the triumph, which puts her undefeated team top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The experienced skipper raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the fastest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with First Tournament Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her maiden tournament half-century off 46 balls soon after Healy got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain dropped the simplest of chances off a teammate and also failed to grasp a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean chance off Brown but failed to review when the official turned down their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Stars
In contrast, the spinners thrived, led by King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the total was rendered straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against the Indian side four days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to Indore to face England and the Proteas.”
