Alyssa Healy ton helps Australia crush West Indies and reach Women’s World Cup final

Australia will have the chance to reclaim the Women’s World Cup after crushing West Indies by 157 runs in a rain-shortened semi-final. Alyssa Healy struck a magnificent 129 and paired with Rachael Haynes in a 216-run opening stand as Australia made 305-3 in Wellington on Wednesday.

Set a world record ODI chase to win, West Indies were never seriously in the contest, held to 148-8 after 37 overs, with two players unable to bat. The superb win, Australia’s eighth in succession in New Zealand, sends the world No 1 side back to the final for the first time since 2013, where they will play either England or South Africa.

Light drizzle delayed proceedings at Wellington’s Basin Reserve and compressed the match into a 45-over contest played under persistent fog.

Sent in by West Indies skipper Stafanie Taylor, Australia’s openers were alert to the dangers of the new pitch, safely navigating the powerplay. Healy waited 12 overs before her first boundary before exploding, striking her second fifty in just 28 balls and finishing with 17 fours and one six.

“It wasn’t a flat wicket my any means ... it was a bit tennis ball-y early,” Healy said. “We knew if we invested a bit of time – as cliched as that sounds – we’d be able to cash in and we were able to do just that.”

Healy also overcame rotten form in the capital where she had made just 38 runs in four outings over the past fortnight.

West Indies looked demoralised in the field, squandering a glut of chances to secure a breakthrough wicket. Hayley Matthews and Shamilia Connell both dropped sitters to dismiss Haynes just after her half-century.

It got worse for West Indies, with Anisa Mohammed – a replacement for Covid-struck spinner Afy Fletcher – pulling her hamstring chasing a