Healy Blasts a Second Ton to Power the Australian Team into Cricket World Cup Semi-Finals

The Australian skipper has executed brilliant consecutive hundreds to lead her team into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a dominant 10-wicket win over their opponents.

The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113, arriving just four days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the identical Vizag venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84no) to chase to their goal of 199 in just under 25 overs.

“I felt I was a below par behind the stumps, and probably a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.

Interestingly, the utmost professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the pair added 202 runs came after perhaps Australia’s weakest performance in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for spilling a couple of the half-dozen chances that went down.

“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately succeeded,” she added.

From the time statistics was initially taken on fielding statistics in 2013, the six dropped opportunities represented Australia’s worst fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.

“Maybe it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” Healy said.

This allowed the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their highest score in an One-Day International against Australia, with a key batter scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.

But the spinner's spellbinding continuous ten-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maidens, was key to making sure Australia’s target wasn’t too challenging.

The Captain Delighted with Win that Seals Knockout Spot

Healy was pleased to discover that the victory, which puts her unbeaten side at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she said.

The experienced captain sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.

The Opener Shines with First World Cup Half-Century

Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her maiden tournament half-century off 46 balls soon after Healy got there off 43. They went on to record the third-highest stand by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.

Earlier, during the sluggish fielding display, Healy spilled the simplest of chances off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a difficult skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their appeal.

The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.

Spinners Thrive as Alana King Stars

In contrast, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by King, whose spell could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.

Other spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the competition's top wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to 13.

A batter's 44 and another's not out 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the target was made to look straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 runs against India four days before.

“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to take on the English team and South Africa.”

Julie Davis
Julie Davis

Liam de Wit is a community enthusiast and writer who loves sharing local stories and hidden gems from the Netherlands.