🔗 Share this article

Alyssa Healy has delivered brilliant consecutive centuries to lead her team into the last four of the World Cup, motivating them to a dominant 10-wicket trouncing over Bangladesh.

The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just four days after her similarly brilliant 142 that saw off hosts India at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to chase to their goal of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.

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

Interestingly, the utmost professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the duo added 202 runs came after possibly the team's shoddiest display in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the captain scolding herself in especial for dropping two of the six catches that went down.

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

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

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

It helped the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their highest score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.

But Alana King mesmeric unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was crucial to making sure the team's target wasn’t too challenging.

Healy Delighted with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Spot

The Australian skipper was pleased to learn that the victory, which places her undefeated side top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.

The experienced skipper sped to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from her partner later in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.

The Opener Shines with First Tournament Fifty

Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her first World Cup half-century off 46 balls shortly after Healy got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Australian pair at a Women’s World Cup.

In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, the captain dropped the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a tough lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clean chance off Brown but failed to review when the umpire rejected their appeal.

The reinstated Brown sent down the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was still the team's costliest bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.

Spinners Thrive as Alana King Stars

Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, led by King, whose spell could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.

Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to 13.

A batter's 44 and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the total was made to look straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 against India four days earlier.

“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” said star performer King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to the next venue to face England and South Africa.”