🔗 Share this article Healy Fires Another Century to Send Australia into Cricket World Cup Semi-Finals Alyssa Healy has executed superb consecutive centuries to guide her squad into the last four of the World Cup, inspiring them to a commanding comprehensive trouncing over Bangladesh. Healy finished unbeaten on 113, arriving just a few days after her similarly impressive 142 that saw off the Indian team at the same Vizag venue. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) to race to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries. “I felt I was a below par behind the stumps, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” Healy remarked. Interestingly, the utmost expertise of the day's chase as the pair added 202 runs followed perhaps the team's poorest display in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the captain scolding herself in especial for dropping two of the half-dozen chances that went down. “I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately got the job done,” she added. Since statistics was first recorded on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches marked the team's poorest 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 said. It helped the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest score in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter compiling the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions. But Alana King mesmeric continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maidens, was crucial to making sure the team's chase remained manageable. Healy Pleased with Win that Confirms Knockout Place Healy was pleased to discover that the triumph, which places her undefeated side top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed. The experienced captain sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries. The Opener Impresses with Maiden Tournament Fifty The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and a six, reaching to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 deliveries soon after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Australian duo at a World Cup event. In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain spilled the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their appeal. The recalled Brown bowled the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs. Spin Attack Excel as King Stars In contrast, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by King, whose spell could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips. Other spinners Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to 13. A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 deliveries took the team to their record score against the Aussies, but the total was rendered straightforward by a side who had successfully pursued 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 Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to Indore to take on England and South Africa.”