Alyssa Healy Blasts Another Ton to Power Australia into Cricket World Cup Semi-Finals

The Australian skipper has delivered brilliant back-to-back hundreds to lead her squad into the last four of the World Cup, motivating them to a commanding comprehensive victory over Bangladesh.

The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113, coming just four days after her equally impressive 142 that defeated hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to dash to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.

“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.

Ironically, the utmost professionalism of the day's chase as the duo added 202 followed perhaps Australia’s shoddiest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for spilling two of the six chances that went down.

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

From the time data was initially recorded on fielding statistics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities marked Australia’s poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.

“Perhaps 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 the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.

But Alana King mesmeric unbroken 10-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was crucial to ensuring Australia’s chase remained manageable.

Healy Pleased with Win that Confirms Knockout Place

The Australian skipper was thrilled to discover that the triumph, which places her undefeated team at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That's great news,” she said.

The 35-year-old captain raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the fastest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.

Litchfield Shines with First World Cup Half-Century

Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 balls shortly after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.

Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, Healy dropped the simplest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to hold on to a tough skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clean catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their appeal.

The recalled Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.

Spinners Excel as King Leads

In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.

Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to thirteen.

Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's not out 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record total against the Aussies, but the total was made to look easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side a few days before.

“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to Indore to take on England and South Africa.”