Alyssa Healy has produced superb consecutive hundreds to lead her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a commanding 10-wicket win over their opponents.
Healy remained not out on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her similarly brilliant 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84no) to race to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I thought I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the win and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of the day's run-chase as the pair put on 202 runs came after possibly Australia’s shoddiest display in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in especial for dropping two of the half-dozen chances that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately delivered,” Healy continued.
From the time statistics was initially taken on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the half-dozen missed catches represented Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” Healy said.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken 10-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was key to making sure the team's target remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Win that Seals Semi-Final Place
Healy was thrilled to discover that the triumph, which puts 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 semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with First World Cup Fifty
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her first tournament fifty off 46 balls soon after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, Healy spilled the easiest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a tough lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clean catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Brown sent down the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was still the team's most expensive bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Stars
Instead, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the total was rendered easy meat by a side who had successfully pursued 330 against India a few days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said star performer King. “Certainly it won't end here. We look forward to going back to Indore to take on England and South Africa.”
