
Australia captain Alyssa Healy celebrates with Phoebe Litchfield after scoring a century against Bangladesh in Visakhapatnam on Thursday (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.) Alyssa Healy’s sublime form continued as the Australian skipper hammered her second consecutive century to lead her side to a dominant 10-wicket victory over Bangladesh in the Women’s ODI World Cup on Thursday. After opting to bat, Bangladesh were restricted to 198 for 9 with Australia’s disciplined bowling keeping them in check. In reply, Healy (113* off 77 balls) and Phoebe Litchfield (84* off 72 balls) made light work of the target, completing the chase in just 24.5 overs.
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The seven-time champions, chasing a second straight win, showed complete control as Healy and Litchfield threw themselves into Bangladesh’s attack from the start. Fresh from her 142 in pursuit of a record 331 earlier in the tournament, Healy looked fine again, finding gaps with ease and dispatching loose deliveries with precision. Her unbeaten knock included 20 boundaries while Litchfield matched her captain’s aggression by hitting 12 fours and a six. The left-hander sealed the win in style as he hit Farih Trisna for back-to-back boundaries to end the chase before the halfway mark. Bangladesh’s spinners, usually their strength, struggled to hold the pair as the Australian openers dominated every phase of the innings. Earlier, the Bangladesh innings was held together by Shobana Mostary who top scored with an unbeaten 66 off 80 balls. This is the highest score by a Bangladeshi batsman against Australia in women’s cricket. Rubya Haider started the innings solidly with 44 off 59 balls, but regular wickets prevented Bangladesh from building any momentum.
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Australia’s bowlers shared the spoils, with Alana King (2/18), Annabel Sutherland (2/41), Ashleigh Gardner (2/49) and Georgia Wareham (2/22) taking two wickets each. Despite the efforts of Haider and Mostary, Bangladesh’s total proved unpredictable for the defending champions, who now move closer to sealing their semi-final spot with another commanding performance.