Healy Hammers a Second Hundred to Propel Australia into Cricket World Cup Semi-Finals

The Australian skipper has delivered superb back-to-back hundreds to guide her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, motivating them to a dominant 10-wicket trouncing over their opponents.

The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her similarly brilliant 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the same Vizag venue. This time, she shared an undefeated double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to chase to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.

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

Ironically, the utmost expertise of the day's chase as the duo put on 202 runs came after perhaps Australia’s shoddiest performance in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for spilling a couple of the half-dozen catches that went down.

“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily succeeded,” she added.

From the time statistics was first recorded on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches marked the team's worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.

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

This allowed the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest total in an ODI against Australia, with a key batter compiling the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.

But Alana King spellbinding continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was vital to making sure Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.

The Captain Delighted with Win that Seals Semi-Final Place

The Australian skipper was thrilled to learn that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten team at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.

The experienced skipper raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.

The Opener Shines with First World Cup Half-Century

Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 balls soon after Healy reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best stand by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.

Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, Healy dropped the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a tough lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean chance off Brown but failed to review when the official turned down their appeal.

The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.

Spinners Excel as Alana King Leads

Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, led by Alana King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.

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

A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record score against the Aussies, but the target was made to look easy meat by a side who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side a few days before.

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

Charles Simon
Charles Simon

A seasoned luxury travel writer and lifestyle curator with over a decade of experience exploring exclusive destinations across the UK and Europe.