Alyssa Healy has produced outstanding back-to-back centuries to steer her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a commanding 10-wicket victory over their opponents.
Healy remained not out on 113, arriving just a few days after her equally stellar 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 chase to their target of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a below par behind the stumps, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s chase as the pair put on 202 runs came after perhaps the team's weakest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for spilling a couple of the six chances that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and luckily delivered,” Healy continued.
Since data was first taken on fielding metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities marked the team's worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever score in an ODI against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken 10-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was crucial to ensuring the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Confirms Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was thrilled to discover that the triumph, which places her undefeated side top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from her partner later in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Impresses with First Tournament Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and a six, getting to her first tournament fifty off 46 balls soon after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain spilled the simplest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a tough skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire rejected their shout.
The reinstated Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the team's most expensive bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as King Stars
Instead, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the total was made to look straightforward by a side who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked star performer Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to Indore to face England and the Proteas.”