Healy: King and Litchfield contributions vital in Bangladesh win
Media release
Alyssa Healy was full of praise for Alana King after the spinner’s star turn put Australia on their way to a comprehensive 10-wicket win over Bangladesh.
King took two for 18 from her 10 overs in Visakhapatnam, claiming the crucial wickets of captain Nigar Sultana Joty and Shorna Akter, which helped restrict their opponents to 198 for nine.
Those figures earned King the Player of the Match award and set the foundations for Healy and Phoebe Litchfield’s record chase – the highest in ICC Women’s Cricket World Cups without losing a wicket - which booked Australia’s spot in the knockout stages.
“She made me look a little bit silly at times,” joked Healy. “It was amazing from her, just her ability to attack both sides of the bat with the real ripping leggie, but also the one that skids on. That’s pretty impressive.
“It was great to see her dominate with the ball today and to see her get the reward she deserved.”
The Australian skipper notched up back-to-back World Cup hundreds with an unbeaten 113 to go alongside her 142 against India, but the 35-year-old was brilliantly supported by Litchfield (84 not out) whose knock mixed aggression and precision in equal measure.
Healy explained having an opening partner who looks to play in such a positive fashion helps spread the scoring responsibilities and hopes Litchfield can continue to build on her recent run of form.
“It’s been great [batting with Phoebe],” continued Healy. “I feel like she takes a lot of pressure off me, it’s not just me looking to take the risks anymore; it’s both of us. When it comes off, like today, it’s awesome.
“Even in the last game, I thought we started really well. Hopefully that gives us both a bit of confidence leading into the back end of the tournament. I thought Phoebe was outstanding today, and hopefully she’s happy with herself.”
King bounced back from going wicketless in her country’s win over India with her two scalps and led a strong and collective Australian bowling effort against the Tigresses, which also saw Ash Gardner (2/48), Georgia Wareham (2/22) and Annabel Sutherland (2/41) chip in.
The 29-year-old paid tribute to her fellow bowlers and highlighted the way they worked as a unit in particular as crucial to their success against Bangladesh.
King said: “I think the beauty of this group is that if it’s not someone’s day, someone else is there to pick up the slack. We have such great communication between all the bowlers, and with Midge [Healy} behind the stumps as well, she’s got the best seat in the house to know what’s working for the bowlers and what length is hardest to challenge the batters.
“We put it down to great communication between all of us. We try to get each other into really good positions, and we want the best for each other. Communication is key, and we pride ourselves on that.”
Despite qualifying for the semi-finals following the win at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, King insists they’ll be no let up from her or her teammates as they take on England next in Indore on Wednesday.
She added: "It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup. But no doubt it doesn’t stop here, we look forward to going back to India and taking on England and South Africa, two really big countries. It’s going to be some pretty insane cricket.”
Meanwhile, Bangladesh face Sri Lanka next and captain Joty vowed her team wouldn’t let the defeat to Australia get in the way of their attempts to record a second win at the tournament.
She said: “I think it’s very important how we recover from this game. We have to learn from here and rectify our mistakes from this game. There are a lot of positives as well that we want to take into the last two games."
ENDS