The Australian skipper has produced superb back-to-back centuries to lead her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, motivating them to a commanding comprehensive win over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her similarly stellar 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to race to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 overs.
“I felt I was a below par with the gloves, and probably a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo put on 202 followed possibly the team's poorest display in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for dropping 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 batting, and fortunately succeeded,” she added.
Since data was first recorded on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the six missed catches marked the team's worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” the captain commented.
This allowed Bangladesh to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against Australia, with a key batter scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maidens, was vital to ensuring the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Seals Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was pleased to learn that the triumph, which puts her undefeated side at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That's great news,” she said.
The experienced captain sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from her partner in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 balls shortly after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain spilled the easiest of edges off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a tough lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clear catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Leads
Instead, the spinners thrived, led by King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Other spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to 13.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the total was made to look straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 runs against India a few days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked star performer Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to Indore to face England and South Africa.”
