Captain Alyssa Healy struck an unbeaten century, her second in the tournament, to lead Australia to a 10-wicket victory over Bangladesh and secure the first semifinal spot in the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2025. Chasing a target of 199, Healy, 113, and Phoebe Litchfield, 84, forged a partnership of 202, securing the total with 25.1 overs to spare.
Healy, in the top of her form, decimated the Bangladeshi bowling attack, which was missing key pacers Marufa Akter and Nahida Akter. She hit 20 boundaries, with Litchfield providing excellent support, with 12 boundaries and six of her own. The partnership marked the highest successful run chase without the loss of a wicket in Women's World Cup history. Despite a few early close calls, the pair raced to 78 by the end of the powerplay and never allowed Bangladesh to come into the game.
After opting to bat, Bangladesh was held to 198 for 9 despite an unbeaten half-century from Sobhana Mostary. Her knock of 66 not out from 80 balls was the highest individual score by a Bangladeshi batter against Australia in women's ODIs and provided a late innings flourish. Rubya Haider also contributed 44 runs at the top of the order. However, Bangladesh struggled to build partnerships against the Australian attack, losing wickets at regular intervals through the middle overs.
Leggie Alana King bowled a spell of 10 consecutive overs to finish with figures of 2 for 18, including four maidens. She was later named Player of the Match for her breakthroughs. Georgia Wareham, 2/22, Annabel Sutherland 2/41, and Ashleigh Gardner 2/49 also claimed two wickets each. Despite their efficiency with the ball, the performance in the field was uncharacteristically subpar, dropping as many as six catches.
Post-match, Healy praised King's impact, joking that the spinner "made me a little bit silly at times" behind the stumps. "It was amazing from her, just her ability to attack both edges of the bat," while also conceding her team's fielding wasn't up to its usual standard. Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana said, "We started very well, just one wicket down in the powerplay. But after that, we kept losing wickets," she said. "We are not being consistent with our batting and we missed our two main strike bowlers too, so those actually cost us the game."
