Alyssa Healy has produced brilliant consecutive hundreds to steer her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, inspiring them to a merciless 10-wicket win over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her similarly impressive 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their target of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a below par with the gloves, and probably a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair added 202 runs followed possibly the team's poorest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in particular for spilling a couple of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and fortunately delivered,” she added.
From the time data was first taken on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the six dropped catches marked the team's worst fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” Healy said.
It helped the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken ten-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was key to ensuring Australia’s target remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Seals Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was delighted to learn that the triumph, which places her undefeated team top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a place in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The experienced skipper sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with First Tournament Fifty
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her first World Cup half-century off 46 balls shortly after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy dropped the easiest of chances off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a difficult skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official turned down their appeal.
The recalled Brown bowled 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.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Stars
Instead, the spinners excelled, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's not out 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their record score against the Aussies, 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 global tournament,” remarked star performer Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate going back to the next venue to face the English team and South Africa.”
