Alyssa Healy has delivered superb consecutive hundreds to guide her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a merciless comprehensive victory over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just four days after her equally impressive 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to dash to their goal of 199 in just under 25 overs.
“I felt I was a not at my best with the gloves, and probably a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of the day's chase as the pair put on 202 runs came after perhaps Australia’s poorest performance in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the captain scolding herself in especial for dropping a couple 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 delivered,” she added.
From the time statistics was first taken on fielding statistics in 2013, the six missed catches marked the team's worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” Healy commented.
It helped the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever total in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken ten-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was crucial to making sure the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Spot
Healy was delighted to discover that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten side at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a place in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The experienced captain raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she faced as she accelerated from her partner later in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Shines with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her first World Cup fifty off 46 balls soon after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, Healy dropped the easiest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to hold on to a tough lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clean chance off Brown but failed to review when the umpire rejected their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowler, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Stars
Instead, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the total was rendered straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 runs against India a few days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked star performer Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate returning to Indore to face England and South Africa.”
