Alyssa Healy has executed outstanding back-to-back hundreds to steer her team into the last four of the World Cup, motivating them to a commanding 10-wicket trouncing over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her equally impressive 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to dash to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I thought I was a not at my best with the gloves, and probably a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the utmost professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo put on 202 runs followed perhaps Australia’s weakest display in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for spilling a couple of the six chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately succeeded,” Healy continued.
Since statistics was first recorded on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the half-dozen missed catches represented Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” Healy said.
It helped the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their highest total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken ten-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was vital to ensuring the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was pleased to discover that the triumph, which places her unbeaten side at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a berth in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with First Tournament Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and a six, getting to her first World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-highest stand by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain spilled the easiest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a tough lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official turned down their appeal.
The recalled Brown sent down the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the team's costliest bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, led by King, whose spell could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her position as the competition's top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took the team to their record total against the Australians, but the total was made to look easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side a few days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We look forward to returning to Indore to face England and the Proteas.”
