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Alyssa Healy has executed brilliant consecutive centuries to steer her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, motivating them to a merciless comprehensive win over Bangladesh.

The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113, arriving just a few days after her equally brilliant 142 that saw off the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to dash to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.

“I felt I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” she said.

Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s chase as the pair added 202 followed perhaps the team's poorest performance in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper 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 bat, and fortunately succeeded,” she added.

From the time statistics was initially taken on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed catches marked Australia’s worst fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.

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

This allowed the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever score in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter compiling the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.

But Alana King spellbinding continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was key to making sure Australia’s target wasn’t too challenging.

Healy Pleased with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Spot

Healy was delighted to learn that the victory, which places her undefeated side at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's great news,” she said.

The experienced skipper raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.

The Opener Impresses with Maiden World Cup Half-Century

The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her first World Cup half-century off 46 balls soon after her partner reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.

Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, the captain spilled the easiest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a difficult skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their shout.

The recalled Brown bowled the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the team's most expensive bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.

Spin Attack Thrive as King Leads

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

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

A batter's 44 and another's not out 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record total against the Aussies, but the target was rendered straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side four days earlier.

“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said star performer Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate going back to Indore to take on England and South Africa.”