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Alyssa Healy has produced brilliant consecutive centuries to steer her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, inspiring them to a merciless comprehensive win over their opponents.

The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to chase to their target of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.

“I thought I was a below par behind the stumps, and probably a bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” she said.

Interestingly, the utmost professionalism of the day's chase as the pair put on 202 came after perhaps the team's shoddiest display in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for dropping a couple of the half-dozen catches that were missed.

“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily delivered,” Healy continued.

Since statistics was first taken on fielding metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches marked Australia’s worst fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.

“Maybe it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” the captain commented.

It helped the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.

But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she took 2-18 with four maidens, was key to making sure the team's target wasn’t too challenging.

Healy Delighted with Victory that Confirms Knockout Spot

The Australian skipper was delighted to discover that the triumph, which puts her undefeated team at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That's great news,” she said.

The experienced skipper raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the fastest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.

Litchfield Impresses with Maiden Tournament Half-Century

Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her first World Cup half-century off 46 balls soon after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.

Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, the captain spilled the simplest of edges off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a tough lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear chance off Brown but failed to review when the umpire turned down their shout.

The reinstated Brown bowled the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.

Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Stars

In contrast, the spinners thrived, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.

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

Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record score against the Australians, but the target was made to look easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 against India four days earlier.

“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to take on England and the Proteas.”