Healy Hammers Another Century to Propel the Australian Team into Cricket World Cup Final Four

The Australian skipper has delivered superb back-to-back hundreds to guide her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a commanding 10-wicket victory over their opponents.

The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her similarly impressive 142 that defeated hosts India at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) to chase to their goal of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.

“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and probably a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the win and move on,” she said.

Ironically, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo put on 202 runs came after possibly the team's shoddiest performance in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for dropping a couple of the six catches that were missed.

“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and luckily got the job done,” she added.

From the time data was first recorded on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the six missed opportunities represented Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.

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

This allowed Bangladesh to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever score in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling 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 key to ensuring the team's target remained manageable.

Healy Pleased with Victory that Seals Knockout Place

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

The 35-year-old captain raced to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.

The Opener Shines with First World Cup Fifty

The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her first World Cup half-century off 46 balls soon after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.

In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain spilled the simplest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a tough skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also take a clear chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their appeal.

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

Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Leads

In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.

Other spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's top wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to 13.

Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the total was rendered easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 runs against India a few days earlier.

“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to the next venue to face the English team and the Proteas.”