Alyssa Healy Blasts a Second Hundred to Propel the Australian Team into Cricket World Cup Final Four

The Australian skipper has executed superb consecutive centuries to steer her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, driving them to a dominant comprehensive win over their opponents.

Healy remained unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her equally brilliant 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their target of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.

“I felt I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.

Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of the day's chase as the pair put on 202 runs followed perhaps Australia’s weakest display in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in especial for spilling a couple of the six chances that went down.

“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and fortunately succeeded,” Healy continued.

Since data was first taken on fielding statistics in 2013, the six missed catches marked the team's worst fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.

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

It helped the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever total in an ODI 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 vital to ensuring the team's target remained manageable.

The Captain Pleased with Win that Confirms Knockout Spot

Healy was delighted to discover that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten team top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she said.

The experienced skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from her partner in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.

The Opener Shines with Maiden Tournament Half-Century

The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and a six, reaching to her first tournament fifty off 46 balls soon after her partner reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.

In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain spilled the simplest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to hold on to a tough lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clean chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their shout.

The reinstated Brown bowled the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.

Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Leads

Instead, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.

Fellow spinners Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to thirteen.

Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the target was made to look straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side a few days earlier.

“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked star performer King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to face England and South Africa.”

Kevin Mcfarland
Kevin Mcfarland

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