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The Australian skipper has produced superb back-to-back centuries to steer her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, driving them to a merciless comprehensive win over Bangladesh.

Healy remained not out on 113, coming just four days after her equally stellar 142 that defeated the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to dash to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 overs.

“I thought I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and probably a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the win and move on,” she said.

Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair added 202 runs came after possibly Australia’s weakest display in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for dropping two of the six chances that were missed.

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

From the time statistics was initially recorded on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities represented Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.

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

This allowed Bangladesh to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.

But the spinner's mesmeric continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was key to ensuring the team's target wasn’t too challenging.

The Captain Pleased with Victory that Confirms Knockout Place

The Australian skipper was pleased to discover that the victory, which puts her undefeated team at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she said.

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

Litchfield Shines with Maiden Tournament Half-Century

The young batter Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 deliveries soon after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.

Earlier, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain spilled the simplest of edges off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a tough skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their appeal.

The recalled Brown sent down the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.

Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Stars

Instead, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.

Other spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to 13.

A batter's 44 runs and another's not out 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the target was rendered easy meat by a side who had successfully pursued 330 against the Indian side a few days earlier.

“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked star performer Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We look forward to going back to Indore to take on the English team and the Proteas.”