Alyssa Healy has produced superb consecutive centuries to lead her team into the last four of the World Cup, driving them to a dominant comprehensive victory over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113, arriving just four days after her similarly impressive 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the same Vizag venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to chase to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a below par with the gloves, and probably a bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair put on 202 runs came after perhaps Australia’s weakest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for spilling a couple of the six catches that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately delivered,” Healy continued.
From the time statistics was initially taken on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches represented Australia’s poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” the captain commented.
It helped the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever total in an ODI against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was vital to making sure Australia’s target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Seals Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was pleased to learn that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten team at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the fastest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her first World Cup fifty off 46 balls shortly after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, Healy dropped the simplest of edges off a teammate and also failed to grasp a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also take a clear chance off Brown but failed to review when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the spinners thrived, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the total was made to look straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 against India a few days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said star performer King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to take on the English team and South Africa.”
