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

Alyssa Healy has executed brilliant consecutive centuries to lead her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a dominant 10-wicket trouncing over Bangladesh.

The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her equally brilliant 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to race to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.

“I thought I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the win and move on,” Healy remarked.

Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the duo put on 202 runs followed perhaps the team's shoddiest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for dropping a couple of the half-dozen catches that went down.

“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and fortunately got the job done,” Healy continued.

Since data was first recorded on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities marked the team's poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.

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

It helped Bangladesh to manage 9-198 after they had opted to bat first, their highest score in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.

But Alana King spellbinding unbroken ten-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was key to making sure the team's target remained manageable.

The Captain Delighted with Win that Seals Knockout Place

Healy was delighted to learn that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten side top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.

The 35-year-old captain sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.

The Opener Impresses with Maiden World Cup Fifty

Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 balls soon after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.

In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain dropped the simplest of chances off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clear chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the official turned down their shout.

The recalled Brown bowled the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.

Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Leads

In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.

Other spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to thirteen.

A batter's 44 and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record total against the Aussies, but the total was made to look easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side four days earlier.

“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to Indore to face the English team and South Africa.”

Aaron Anderson
Aaron Anderson

Award-winning journalist and political analyst with over a decade of experience covering UK and European affairs.