Australia to face either defending champions England or South Africa in Sunday's final in Christchurch; Alyssa Healy smashes 129 from 107 deliveries as Australia pile on 305-3 against West Indies in semi-final before winning by 157 runs as opponents limited to 148-8 in Wellington
Wednesday 30 March 2022 12:38, UK
Australia stormed into the Women's World Cup final with a 157-run demolition of West Indies in a rain-reduced game in Wellington.
Australia piled on 305-3 from their 45 overs - the highest total in a Women's World Cup knockout match - as Alyssa Healy (129 off 107 balls) hit a 91-ball century and put on 216 with Rachael Haynes (85 off 100) for the first wicket.
Meg Lanning's side then limited West Indies to 148 all out in 37 overs in the chase - Anisa Mohammed and Chinelle Henry unable to bat due to injury - as they recorded their eighth win out of eight at this year's tournament and moved one victory away from a record-extending seventh 50-over World Cup title.
Australia will face either defending champions England or South Africa in Sunday's trophy game at Hagley Oval in Christchurch.
England and South Africa meet in the second semi-final, also in Christchurch, live on Sky Sports Cricket World Cup and the Sky Sports Cricket YouTube channel from 1.30am on Thursday.
Australia's win in the first semi-final was their 37th in their last 38 one-day internationals.
Healy and Haynes led the way with the bat as they punished West Indies for four dropped catches - a particularly costly one coming when Henry (2-51) spilled Healy on just five off her own bowling.
Healy started slowly with her first 50 runs coming from 63 balls but her next 50 came from just 28 in an innings which featured 17 fours and one six.
Skipper Lanning (26 off 26) and Beth Mooney (43no off 31) also contributed with the bat, while Mooney then took a stunning one-handed catch at square leg to remove Rashada Williams (0) early in the West Indies' run chase.
Healy produced a fine moment in the field, too, running out Chedean Nation (7) with a direct hit having sprinted from the wicketkeeping position to short fine leg.
Jess Jonassen (2-14) and Megan Schutt (1-8) were among those to impress with the ball as Australia dealt with the loss of injured all-rounder Ellyse Perry (back spasm).
West Indies were aiming to reach their second 50-over World Cup final - they finished runners-up to Australia in 2013 - but were outgunned by Meg Lanning's team at Basin Reserve.
Only skipper Stafanie Taylor (48), Hayley Matthews (34) and Deandra Dottin (34) made double figures with the bat for West Indies.
Australia's last title victory in 2013 followed previous triumphs in 1978, 1982, 1988, 1997 and 2005.
Lanning's team were knocked out by India at the semi-final stage in 2017 but there was no last-four heartache for Australia this time around.
The six-time champions will be favourites whoever they play in this year's final - they defeated England and South Africa by 12 runs and five wickets respectively in the group stage.
Player of the Match, Alyssa Healy: "[My form] has been here, there and everywhere. It's probably not been quite where I'd want it to be, not as clinical. Once I got to 73, I thought I'd better make sure I went a bit further.
"One-day cricket is a bit of a patience game. You have to ride the ebbs and flows. [Bowlers] might get on top of you early but you can come back in the middle period.
"Batting with someone like [Rachael Haynes], who has a level head and calm nature about her, keeps you in the moment.
"[Getting to the final] is really cool. It's obviously what we set out to do. It has been at the forefront of our minds and today was just another stepping stone. I thought the girls were outstanding.
"We will now watch and see who we are up against and prepare really well for Sunday. Hopefully we can enjoy the next few days leading in."
Australia captain, Meg Lanning: "I have been involved in some very stressful semi-finals in the past and so we came in expecting a very difficult game but Healy and Haynes set it up for us. They showed discipline and left a lot of balls and then punished the bad balls which set the game up nicely.
"There were some tough moments - West Indies bowled really well up front and put us under pressure - but we had a good game-plan and built a good base. It wasn't as easy as it looked. We had to work hard.
""[It was certainly close to the perfect game], I think we can be satisfied with the performance in a big game up against a very dangerous team. The batters set it up and we were very disciplined with the ball.
"We will enjoy the win. You have to do that in a semi-final. But we came here to win the tournament and that's what we are looking for. We don't mind who we play. England and South Africa are both incredible teams.
"I probably won't watch too much of the semi-final, it will make me too nervous. I just hope it's a good game as the tournament has been incredible so far."
West Indies skipper, Stafanie Taylor: "When they build partnerships, it kind of deflates the whole team. That's what the Australians did well.
"They absorbed pressure and then applied it. I felt we couldn't get over that and the amount of dropped catches never helped us.
"To chase that total you have to be positive. We needed someone from the top three, top four to bat through the innings but we just never had that."
England will be aiming to continue a stunning turnaround when they meet South Africa in the second semi-final at Christchurch (1.30am, Thursday, Sky Sports Cricket World Cup).
Heather Knight's side lost their first three games to fellow semi-finalists Australia, South Africa and West Indies before reeling off successive wins over India, hosts New Zealand, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
South Africa finished second in the group phase, with five wins, that sole defeat against Australia and a rained-off game against West Indies.
South Africa have never reached a World Cup final with two previous appearances in the last four their best results to date.
The Proteas lost a semi-final thriller to England by two wickets in 2017, while they also suffered a last-four exit in 2000 following a nine-wicket defeat to Australia, a game in which current England head coach Lisa Keightley top-scored for Australia with 91 not out.
England or South Africa will meet Australia in the 2022 final, live on Sky Sports Cricket World Cup from 1.30am on Sunday.
