Alyssa Healy has delivered brilliant back-to-back hundreds to guide her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, inspiring them to a merciless 10-wicket win over their opponents.
Healy finished unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that defeated hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84no) to dash to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and probably a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo added 202 followed perhaps Australia’s poorest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for spilling two of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately succeeded,” Healy continued.
Since data was first recorded on fielding metrics in the year 2013, the six dropped catches represented the team's worst fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” the captain said.
It helped the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their highest total in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous 10-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was vital to making sure Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Victory that Confirms Knockout Place
Healy was thrilled to learn that the victory, which puts her undefeated side top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from her partner later in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with First Tournament Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 balls soon after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy dropped the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a tough lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean chance off Brown but failed to review when the umpire rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, led by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and another's not out 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the total was rendered straightforward by a side who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side four days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to Indore to face England and South Africa.”
