Alyssa Healy has delivered outstanding back-to-back hundreds to guide her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, driving them to a dominant comprehensive trouncing over their opponents.
Healy remained not out on 113, arriving just a few days after her similarly brilliant 142 that saw off the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to dash to their target of 199 in just under 25 overs.
“I thought I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the utmost professionalism of the day's chase as the pair added 202 followed possibly Australia’s weakest display in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the captain scolding herself in especial for spilling two of the six catches that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and luckily delivered,” she added.
Since statistics was first taken on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities marked Australia’s worst fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe 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 commented.
This allowed the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King mesmeric continuous ten-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maidens, was key to ensuring Australia’s target remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Confirms Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was delighted to learn that the triumph, which puts her undefeated side at the top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries 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 half-centuries.
Litchfield Impresses with First Tournament Fifty
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 fours and a six, getting to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 balls shortly after her partner got there off 43. They went on to record the third-best stand by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding display, Healy dropped the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clear catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was still the team's most expensive bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell 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 overs) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her total to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's not out 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their record score against the Australians, but the target was rendered straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side a few days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to Indore to take on England and South Africa.”
