Alyssa Healy has executed superb back-to-back hundreds to guide her team into the last four of the World Cup, motivating them to a dominant 10-wicket trouncing over their opponents.
Healy finished not out on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her similarly stellar 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their target of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a not at my best with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of the day's run-chase as the pair added 202 came after perhaps Australia’s poorest performance in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in especial for spilling two of the six chances that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and luckily delivered,” Healy continued.
Since statistics was first taken on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities represented the team's worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll review,” Healy said.
It helped the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest score in an ODI against Australia, with a key batter scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was vital to making sure the team's chase remained manageable.
Healy Pleased with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Spot
Healy was thrilled to discover that the triumph, which places her undefeated team top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with First World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and a six, getting to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 deliveries soon after Healy reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best stand by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy dropped the easiest of edges off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a tough lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clean chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their shout.
The recalled Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was still the team's most expensive bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the spinners excelled, led by King, whose spell could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spinners Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the target was made to look straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 against India a few days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” said star performer King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to take on England and the Proteas.”
