Alyssa Healy has produced brilliant back-to-back hundreds to lead her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a dominant 10-wicket win over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113, coming just a few days after her equally impressive 142 that defeated hosts India at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to race to their target of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I thought I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and probably a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” she said.
Ironically, the utmost professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo added 202 runs came after possibly the team's poorest display in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for spilling two of the six catches that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily succeeded,” Healy continued.
From the time data was first taken on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the six dropped catches represented the team's poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” the captain said.
It helped the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest score in an One-Day International against Australia, with a key batter compiling the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was crucial to ensuring the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Pleased with Win that Seals Knockout Spot
Healy was delighted to learn that the triumph, which places her undefeated side at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The experienced skipper sped to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from her partner later in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 balls shortly after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, the captain spilled the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a tough lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their shout.
The recalled Brown bowled the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was still the team's most expensive bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as King Stars
Instead, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Other spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Ash 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, taking her tally to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the target was rendered easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked star performer King. “No doubt it won't end here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to face the English team and South Africa.”
