Alyssa Healy has executed superb consecutive centuries to lead her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, driving them to a commanding 10-wicket trouncing over their opponents.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her equally impressive 142 that saw off hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to dash to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 overs.
“I felt I was a below par with the gloves, and probably a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the pair put on 202 runs followed possibly the team's shoddiest display in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for spilling two of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and luckily delivered,” Healy continued.
From the time data was initially recorded on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities represented the team's worst fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll review,” Healy commented.
This allowed the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken ten-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was key to ensuring the team's chase remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
Healy was thrilled to learn that the victory, which places her unbeaten team 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 great news,” she said.
The experienced skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with First Tournament Fifty
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her first World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries soon after Healy got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy dropped the simplest of edges off a teammate and also failed to grasp a tough skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clear catch off Brown but failed to review when the umpire rejected their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown sent down the fastest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Stars
Instead, the spinners excelled, led by King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the total was rendered straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to Indore to take on the English team and South Africa.”
