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The Australian skipper has executed outstanding consecutive hundreds to steer her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, driving them to a merciless 10-wicket win over their opponents.

The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her similarly brilliant 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84no) to chase to their target of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.

“I thought I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and probably a bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.

Interestingly, the utmost expertise of the day's run-chase as the pair put on 202 runs came after perhaps the team's poorest performance in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for spilling a couple of the six chances that went down.

“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily delivered,” she added.

Since data was initially recorded on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities represented the team's poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.

“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” the captain said.

It helped Bangladesh to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with a key batter compiling the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.

But Alana King mesmeric unbroken ten-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was key to making sure Australia’s chase remained manageable.

The Captain Delighted with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Spot

The Australian skipper was thrilled to discover that the victory, which puts her undefeated team at the top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she said.

The 35-year-old skipper raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the fastest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she faced as she accelerated from her partner later in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.

The Opener Shines with Maiden World Cup Half-Century

Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her first tournament half-century off 46 deliveries soon after her partner reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Australian pair at a Women’s World Cup.

In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, the captain spilled the simplest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a difficult skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the official rejected their shout.

The reinstated Brown bowled the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.

Spinners Excel as King Stars

Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.

Other spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to thirteen.

Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 balls took the team to their record score against the Australians, but the total was made to look easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side a few days before.

“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We look forward to going back to Indore to face the English team and the Proteas.”