Bad catching day but King of spin boosts Aussies
Ian Chadband |
Alyssa Healy’s Australian side have endured a wretched fielding day at the World Cup, dropping six catches to let Bangladesh off the hook at Visakhapatnam.
The spilled chances helped Bangladesh eke out 9-198 on Thursday, their highest ever total in an ODI against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first half-century for the Asian side against the world champs.
Since data was first taken on fielding statistics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches represented the worst performance in the field by an Australian team at the women’s World Cup.
Captain Healy was the worst culprit, spilling two chances, including a regulation edge off Darcie Brown. Even more frustratingly, the skipper did take a catch later off the same quick, only to fail to review.
It proved a frustrating day for Brown, who sent down the fastest deliveries at the World Cup so far but still ended up with the expensive figures of 0-52 off her nine overs.
Instead, it was the spinners who thrived, led by a beautiful spell from leggie Alana King, who took 2-18 off her 10 overs, figures that could have been even better if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in with a couple of wickets, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41 taking her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their best ever total against the Aussies, but the total still looked unlikely to trouble the unbeaten champions who had chased down 330 on the same ground against India four days earlier.
But Healy won’t have been happy how her side leaked 28 off the last three overs, including dropping Mostary twice in Gardner’s final over of the innings, leaving them to pursue 199 to earn a fourth straight win of the competition and book their place in the semi-finals.
AAP
