Healy Fires a Second Hundred to Propel Australia into Cricket World Cup Final Four

Alyssa Healy has executed superb consecutive hundreds to guide her team into the last four of the World Cup, motivating them to a dominant 10-wicket win over Bangladesh.

The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113, coming just four days after her equally brilliant 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to race to their goal of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.

“I thought I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” she said.

Interestingly, the supreme expertise of the day's chase as the pair put on 202 followed perhaps Australia’s poorest performance in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the captain scolding herself in particular for dropping two of the six chances that went down.

“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and luckily succeeded,” she added.

From the time statistics was first recorded on fielding metrics in 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities represented Australia’s worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.

“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” Healy commented.

It helped Bangladesh to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their highest score in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.

But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken 10-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was vital to ensuring the team's chase remained manageable.

Healy Pleased with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Place

Healy was delighted to discover that the victory, which places her unbeaten team top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.

The experienced captain sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.

Litchfield Shines with Maiden Tournament Half-Century

Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her first tournament half-century off 46 balls shortly after Healy got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.

In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, Healy dropped the easiest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a difficult skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their shout.

The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowler, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.

Spinners Excel as Alana King Leads

Instead, the spinners thrived, led by King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.

Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to thirteen.

A batter's 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the target was rendered easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 against the Indian side a few days earlier.

“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said star performer Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate going back to Indore to take on England and the Proteas.”