Alyssa Healy has executed superb consecutive hundreds to steer her team into the last four of the World Cup, motivating them to a commanding comprehensive win over their opponents.
Healy finished not out on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her equally impressive 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an undefeated double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) to dash to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a below par with the gloves, and probably a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s chase as the pair put on 202 came after possibly the team's poorest display in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for dropping two of the six catches that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and luckily got the job done,” she added.
From the time data was initially taken on fielding statistics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities represented the team's worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, 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 Alana King spellbinding unbroken 10-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maidens, was crucial to ensuring the team's target remained manageable.
Healy Pleased with Win that Confirms Knockout Place
Healy was delighted to learn that the triumph, which places her unbeaten team at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from her partner in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 fours and a six, getting to her first tournament fifty off 46 balls soon after Healy got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, the captain dropped the easiest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clear catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official turned down their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as King Leads
In contrast, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their record score against the Australians, but the target was rendered straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We look forward to going back to Indore to face England and the Proteas.”
