Alyssa Healy has executed superb consecutive centuries to steer her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, driving them to a dominant 10-wicket win over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113, coming just a few days after her equally stellar 142 that defeated the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to chase to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll take the win and progress,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of the day's run-chase as the pair added 202 followed possibly the team's poorest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, 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 needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily succeeded,” she added.
Since statistics was first recorded on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities represented Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” Healy said.
This allowed the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever score in an ODI against Australia, with a key batter compiling the maiden half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was crucial to ensuring the team's chase remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Win that Seals Knockout Place
Healy was delighted to discover that the victory, which puts her unbeaten team at the top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, secures them a place in the last-four. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from her partner in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with First World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 balls soon after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain dropped the easiest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clear catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the official rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Leads
Instead, the spinners thrived, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Other spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the total was made to look straightforward by a side who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India a few days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to take on England and South Africa.”
