Alyssa Healy has executed outstanding back-to-back centuries to steer her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, motivating them to a dominant 10-wicket win over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113, arriving just a few days after her equally impressive 142 that saw off hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to race to their target of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I thought I was a below par behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” she said.
Ironically, the utmost expertise of the day's run-chase as the pair put on 202 followed perhaps Australia’s poorest performance in the field under the captain's leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for spilling a couple of the six catches that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately succeeded,” Healy continued.
Since data was initially taken on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities represented the team's poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” the captain said.
It helped the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their highest score in an ODI against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she took 2-18 with four maidens, was vital to making sure Australia’s chase remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Win that Seals Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was pleased to discover that the triumph, which puts her undefeated team top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with First Tournament Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and a six, reaching to her first tournament half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain dropped the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a tough lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their shout.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Stars
Instead, the spinners excelled, led by King, whose spell could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Other spinners Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to 13.
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 target was rendered straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side four days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We look forward to returning to Indore to take on England and South Africa.”
