The Australian skipper has produced outstanding consecutive hundreds to steer her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, inspiring them to a merciless 10-wicket win over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her similarly brilliant 142 that defeated the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to chase to their target of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and probably a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo added 202 followed perhaps Australia’s poorest display in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in particular for spilling a couple of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily succeeded,” she added.
From the time data was first recorded on fielding statistics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches 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 while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain said.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest score in an ODI against Australia, with a key batter scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was crucial to ensuring Australia’s chase remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was pleased to discover that the victory, which places her unbeaten team at the top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from her partner later in the innings after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with First World Cup Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 balls soon after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain dropped the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a difficult skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled 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 Thrive as King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful 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) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and another's not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record total against the Australians, but the total was made to look straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against the Indian side a few days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to the next venue to face England and the Proteas.”
