🔗 Share this article

Alyssa Healy has executed brilliant consecutive centuries to lead her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a merciless comprehensive victory over Bangladesh.

The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her equally impressive 142 that defeated hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 overs.

“I thought I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.

Ironically, the utmost professionalism of the day's run-chase as the pair added 202 runs followed possibly Australia’s weakest performance in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in particular for dropping a couple of the half-dozen catches that were missed.

“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily got the job done,” she added.

Since statistics was initially taken on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches marked the team's worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.

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

It helped Bangladesh to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their highest total in an ODI against Australia, with a key batter scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.

But Alana King mesmeric unbroken ten-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was key to making sure the team's chase remained manageable.

Healy Delighted with Win that Confirms Knockout Spot

The Australian skipper was pleased to discover that the victory, which puts her unbeaten team at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.

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

The Opener Impresses with First World Cup Fifty

Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 fours and a six, reaching to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 deliveries soon after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.

In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, Healy dropped the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also take a clear chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire turned down their shout.

The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was still the team's most expensive bowling option, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.

Spin Attack Excel as King Leads

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

Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to 13.

A batter's 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record score against the Australians, but the total was rendered straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 against the Indian side a few days earlier.

“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked star performer Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We look forward to going back to Indore to face the English team and the Proteas.”