Alyssa Healy has delivered outstanding back-to-back centuries to steer her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a dominant 10-wicket win over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to dash to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and probably a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of the day's chase as the duo put on 202 runs came after perhaps the team's shoddiest display in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for spilling two of the six chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily succeeded,” she added.
From the time data was initially recorded on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities marked Australia’s poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.
It helped the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their highest score in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maidens, was key to making sure the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
Healy was delighted to learn that the victory, which puts her undefeated team at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That's great news,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from her partner later in the knock after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with First World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and a six, reaching to her first tournament fifty off 46 balls shortly after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain dropped the easiest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to hold on to a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the official rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowler, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as King Leads
In contrast, the spinners excelled, led by Alana King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the target was made to look straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate going back to Indore to face the English team and the Proteas.”
