The Australian skipper has delivered outstanding back-to-back hundreds to lead her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a dominant 10-wicket trouncing over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113, arriving just four days after her similarly stellar 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84no) to dash to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I thought I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of the day's chase as the duo put on 202 followed perhaps the team's weakest performance in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for spilling a couple of the six chances that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and fortunately delivered,” she added.
Since statistics was first recorded on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the six dropped opportunities marked Australia’s worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” the captain said.
It helped the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was key to ensuring the team's target remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was thrilled to learn that the victory, which puts her undefeated side top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden Tournament Fifty
Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her first tournament fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, the captain dropped the simplest of edges off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowling option, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Other spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took the team to their record total against the Aussies, but the total was made to look easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate going back to Indore to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
