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

The Australian skipper has delivered outstanding back-to-back centuries to guide her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, driving them to a commanding comprehensive win over their opponents.

Healy finished unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to race to their target of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.

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

Interestingly, the utmost expertise of the day's run-chase as the pair added 202 runs came after possibly Australia’s weakest performance in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in particular for dropping a couple of the half-dozen chances 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 delivered,” Healy continued.

From the time data was initially taken on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the half-dozen missed catches marked the team's poorest 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,” Healy commented.

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

But the spinner's 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 chase wasn’t too challenging.

The Captain Delighted with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Spot

The Australian skipper was thrilled to learn that the triumph, which puts her undefeated side at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.

The experienced skipper raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.

The Opener Shines with Maiden Tournament Half-Century

Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 balls shortly after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.

In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain dropped the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clear chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official turned down their appeal.

The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the team's most expensive bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.

Spinners Thrive as Alana King Stars

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

Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to 13.

A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their record total against the Australians, but the target was made to look straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side four days earlier.

“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked star performer King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate returning to Indore to take on the English team and South Africa.”