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The Australian skipper has produced outstanding back-to-back hundreds to lead her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, motivating them to a commanding 10-wicket win over Bangladesh.

The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her equally brilliant 142-run knock that defeated hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their target of 199 in just under 25 overs.

“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the win and progress,” she said.

Interestingly, the utmost expertise of the day's chase as the pair added 202 followed perhaps the team's poorest performance in the field under the captain's leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for spilling a couple of the six catches that went down.

“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and fortunately got the job done,” Healy continued.

Since data was initially recorded on fielding metrics in the year 2013, the six dropped catches marked Australia’s worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.

“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” Healy said.

It helped Bangladesh to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their highest score in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.

But Alana King mesmeric unbroken 10-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was crucial to making sure Australia’s chase remained manageable.

Healy Pleased with Win that Seals Knockout Spot

Healy was delighted to learn that the victory, which places her undefeated team at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she said.

The experienced skipper sped to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.

Litchfield Impresses with First Tournament Half-Century

Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and a six, getting to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 deliveries soon after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.

Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain dropped the easiest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their shout.

The recalled Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowling option, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.

Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Stars

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

Other spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to thirteen.

Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their record score against the Aussies, but the total was rendered easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against the Indian side four days before.

“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate returning to Indore to face the English team and the Proteas.”