Healy Blasts Another Century to Propel Australia into Cricket World Cup Knockout Stage

Alyssa Healy has produced superb back-to-back hundreds to steer her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a commanding 10-wicket victory over Bangladesh.

The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113, arriving just four days after her equally brilliant 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the identical Vizag venue. This time, she combined in an undefeated 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to race to their goal of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.

“I thought I was a not at my best with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” she said.

Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair put on 202 came after possibly Australia’s weakest performance in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for spilling a couple of the six chances that were missed.

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

From the time data was initially recorded on fielding metrics in 2013, the six dropped opportunities marked the team's poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.

“Maybe it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain said.

It helped Bangladesh to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever score in an ODI against Australia, with a key batter scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.

But Alana King mesmeric unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maidens, was vital to making sure the team's chase remained manageable.

Healy Delighted with Victory that Seals Knockout Place

The Australian skipper was delighted to learn that the victory, which places her unbeaten side at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she said.

The 35-year-old captain sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.

Litchfield Shines with First Tournament Half-Century

The young batter Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 balls shortly after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-best stand by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.

Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain spilled the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a difficult skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the official turned down their shout.

The recalled Darcie Brown sent down the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.

Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Leads

In contrast, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.

Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her total to thirteen.

Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their record score against the Australians, but the total was rendered easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 against India four days before.

“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We look forward to going back to the next venue to face England and South Africa.”

Doris Brown
Doris Brown

Periodista apasionada por el análisis de noticias globales y la escritura en español, con experiencia en medios digitales.