Alyssa Healy has delivered brilliant consecutive centuries to lead her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a commanding 10-wicket trouncing over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113, arriving just a few days after her similarly brilliant 142 that defeated hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to dash to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and probably a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of the day's chase as the duo added 202 runs came after possibly the team's weakest performance in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in particular for dropping two of the six chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately got the job done,” she added.
Since statistics was initially recorded on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the six missed catches marked the team's poorest 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 reflect on,” Healy commented.
It helped the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever total in an ODI against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was crucial to making sure Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Win that Seals Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was pleased to discover that the victory, which puts her undefeated side top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with First Tournament Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and a six, getting to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 balls shortly after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain spilled the simplest of edges off a teammate and also failed to grasp a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Brown bowled the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, led by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the target was made to look straightforward by a side who had successfully pursued 330 against India a few days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to take on England and South Africa.”
