Healy Blasts Another Century to Power Australia into World Cup Final Four

Alyssa Healy has produced brilliant consecutive centuries to guide her team into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a dominant comprehensive victory over Bangladesh.

Healy finished not out on 113, arriving just four days after her similarly brilliant 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to dash to their target of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.

“I felt I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and probably a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.

Interestingly, the supreme expertise of the day's run-chase as the pair put on 202 runs came after perhaps Australia’s weakest display in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for spilling 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,” Healy continued.

From the time statistics was initially recorded on fielding metrics in the year 2013, the six missed opportunities marked the team's poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.

“Maybe it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” Healy commented.

This allowed the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever score in an ODI against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.

But Alana King mesmeric unbroken ten-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was vital to ensuring Australia’s target remained manageable.

The Captain Pleased with Win that Seals Semi-Final Place

Healy was pleased 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, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she said.

The experienced skipper raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.

The Opener Shines with First World Cup Half-Century

Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 balls soon after Healy reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.

Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, Healy dropped the simplest of chances off a teammate and also failed to grasp a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clear catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their shout.

The recalled Brown sent down the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was still the team's costliest bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.

Spinners Excel as Alana King Stars

In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.

Other spinners Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to thirteen.

A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 balls took the team to their record score against the Australians, but the total was rendered easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against the Indian side a few days earlier.

“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to the next venue to face the English team and South Africa.”

Cindy Herring
Cindy Herring

A software engineer and tech enthusiast with over a decade of experience in AI development and digital transformation projects.