Alyssa Healy Fires a Second Ton to Power Australia into World Cup Final Four

Alyssa Healy has produced brilliant back-to-back hundreds to lead her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a merciless comprehensive victory over their opponents.

Healy finished not out on 113 runs, coming just four days after her similarly stellar 142 that defeated hosts India at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to dash to their target of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.

“I felt I was a not at my best with the gloves, and probably a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” she said.

Ironically, the utmost expertise of the day's run-chase as the pair added 202 runs followed possibly Australia’s poorest performance in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for dropping a couple of the half-dozen catches that were missed.

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

Since data was first recorded on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the six dropped catches marked the team's worst fielding display 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 analyze,” Healy commented.

It helped the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest total in an ODI against Australia, with a key batter scoring the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.

But Alana King mesmeric unbroken ten-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was vital to ensuring the team's chase remained manageable.

Healy Pleased with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Spot

The Australian skipper was pleased to discover that the victory, which places her unbeaten team at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.

The 35-year-old captain raced to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the tournament, and finished 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 half-centuries.

The Opener Impresses with Maiden World Cup Half-Century

Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-highest stand by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.

In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy dropped the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their shout.

The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.

Spinners Thrive as Alana King Leads

Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by King, whose spell could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.

Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to 13.

Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record total against the Australians, but the target was rendered easy meat by a side who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India four days before.

“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said star performer King. “Certainly it won't end here. We look forward to returning to Indore to face England and South Africa.”