Healy Blasts a Second Ton to Power the Australian Team into World Cup Final Four

The Australian skipper has delivered brilliant consecutive hundreds to lead her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, motivating them to a dominant 10-wicket win over their opponents.

The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her similarly brilliant 142 that defeated the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to chase to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.

“I felt I was a not at my best with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll take the win and move on,” Healy remarked.

Ironically, the utmost professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair put on 202 came after possibly Australia’s poorest display in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in especial for dropping two of the six catches that were missed.

“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and fortunately delivered,” she added.

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

“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.

This allowed Bangladesh to manage 9-198 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with a key batter compiling the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.

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

Healy Pleased with Win that Seals Semi-Final Place

Healy was pleased to learn that the triumph, which puts her undefeated team at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees 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 fastest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from her partner later in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.

Litchfield Impresses with Maiden World Cup Half-Century

The young batter Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 balls soon after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.

Earlier, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain spilled the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clean catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their shout.

The reinstated Brown sent down 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.

Spin Attack Thrive as King Leads

Instead, 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 Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to 13.

A batter's 44 and another's not out 66 off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the target was made to look straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against the Indian side four days earlier.

“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to Indore to face England and the Proteas.”

Billy Howe
Billy Howe

A tech journalist and innovation strategist with over a decade of experience covering UK's digital economy and startup ecosystem.