Healy Blasts a Second Century to Send Australia into Cricket World Cup Semi-Finals

The Australian skipper has delivered outstanding back-to-back centuries to lead her squad into the last four of the World Cup, motivating them to a commanding 10-wicket win over their opponents.

Healy remained unbeaten on 113, coming just four days after her similarly brilliant 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to dash to their goal of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.

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

Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the pair added 202 runs came after possibly the team's shoddiest performance in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the captain scolding herself in especial for dropping two of the half-dozen catches that were missed.

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

From the time data was initially taken on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the six dropped catches represented Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.

“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” Healy said.

This allowed Bangladesh to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.

But Alana King mesmeric continuous ten-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was vital to making sure Australia’s chase remained manageable.

The Captain Pleased with Win that Confirms Knockout Spot

The Australian skipper was pleased to learn that the triumph, which puts 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 last-four. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.

The 35-year-old captain sped to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.

Litchfield Shines with First World Cup Fifty

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

In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, Healy dropped the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also take a clean chance off Brown but failed to review when the official turned down their shout.

The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down the fastest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.

Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Leads

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

Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to 13.

Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's not out 66 off 80 deliveries took the team to their record score against the Aussies, but the target was rendered easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against India a few days before.

“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said star performer Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate going back to Indore to face the English team and the Proteas.”

Tiffany Young
Tiffany Young

Elara is a seasoned journalist with a passion for uncovering stories that matter, blending data-driven insights with compelling narratives.