🔗 Share this article Healy Hammers a Second Hundred to Send the Australian Team into World Cup Knockout Stage The Australian skipper has executed brilliant consecutive hundreds to lead her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a dominant comprehensive win over Bangladesh. The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113, arriving just four days after her equally stellar 142 that defeated hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to chase to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries. “I felt I was a below par with the gloves, and probably a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” she said. Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo put on 202 runs followed possibly the team's poorest display in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for spilling a couple of the half-dozen catches that went down. “I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and luckily delivered,” she added. Since statistics was initially taken on fielding statistics in 2013, the six missed catches marked Australia’s worst fielding display at a Women’s World Cup. “Maybe it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” the captain commented. It helped the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever total in an ODI against Australia, with a key batter compiling the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions. But the spinner's spellbinding continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was crucial to ensuring the team's target remained manageable. The Captain Delighted with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Spot Healy was thrilled to learn that the victory, which puts her undefeated team at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's great news,” she said. The experienced captain raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away 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 Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, getting to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 balls shortly after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Australian duo at a World Cup event. In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy spilled the simplest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clear chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official turned down their shout. The recalled Darcie Brown sent down the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs. Spin Attack Thrive as King Leads Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, led by Alana King, whose spell could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips. Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to 13. A batter's 44 and another's not out 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the target was made to look easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 runs against India four days earlier. “It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We look forward to going back to Indore to face the English team and the Proteas.”