Women’s World Cup 2025: King spins a web, Healy smashes back-to-back centuries as Australia thrash Bangladesh to qualify for semis

King stifles Bangladesh batters

Bangladesh sticking to their template of batting first after winning the toss at a venue so heavily favouring the chasing side was another sign of their lack of trust in their batters. To their credit, they had their best start yet in this World Cup, reaching 73/1 in the 18th over. But from there, it was largely a procession, except for a fighting knock by Sobhana Mostary, who remained unbeaten after coming in to bat at No 5, making 66 off 80 balls – the first half century by a Bangladeshi batter against Australia in women’s ODIs.

Australia’s bowling was led by the brilliant Alana King, who bowled her 10 overs on the trot and finished with figures of 2/18, with four maidens. The leggie got the ball to grip and turn consistently, troubling not just the batters but even Healy behind the stumps. The pressure she built to force a rash shot from Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana Joty that led to her stumping was the definitive turning point of the match, as it meant Bangladesh’s middle order was forced into action much earlier than ideal.

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Healy aces with the bat again

In the chase, Healy – who had a forgettable afternoon with the gloves, dropping catches and misreading turn to concede easy runs – once again got off the blocks early and cruised at an altitude for back-to-back centuries. The knock wasn’t as flawless as the one against India on Sunday, but it was equally belligerent as she made sure a weakened Bangladesh bowling unit never got to settle. Litchfield’s 84, too, was another reminder of why she is rated as one of the best batters in the world already, as she used the feet to great effect against the spinners.
For Joty’s side, the defeat was something of a reality check. No one could have honestly expected Bangladesh to defeat Australia, but their performances leading up to Thursday’s clash have been heartening, and they consistently put up a good fight. That they were well below their best will frustrate the management after showing some real progress.

Australia’s Alana King celebrates with teammates the wicket of Bangladesh’s Shorna Akter during the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup match between Australia and Bangladesh at ACA–VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam, India, Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025. (AP Photo)

“Ya, she made me a little bit silly at times, I think,” Healy joked in the post-match chat about King, who was rightly named player of the match despite the captain’s ton. “It was amazing from her, just her ability to attack both edges of the bat with the real ripping leggy, but also the one that skids on, is pretty impressive. It was great to see her dominate with the ball and to see the reward that she got for that.” Healy conceded that her own performance on the field wasn’t up to mark, as was Australia’s catching, with as many as six dropped catches. But despite not being at their clinical best, Australia were leagues ahead of Bangladesh.

“We started very well, just one wicket down in the powerplay. But after that, we kept losing wickets.
Nobody was building partnerships. In these conditions, we should get more runs,” Joty said after the match. “We are not being consistent with our batting and we missed our two main strike bowlers too, so those actually cost us the game.”

Brief scores: Bangladesh 198/9 in 50 overs (Sobhana Mostary 66*, Rubya Haider 44; Alana King 2/18, Georgia Wareham 2/22) lost to Australia 202/0 in 24.5 overs (Alyssa Healy 113*, Phoebe Litchfield 84*) by 10 wickets.