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The Australian skipper has delivered superb consecutive centuries to steer her team into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a dominant 10-wicket victory over Bangladesh.

Healy finished not out on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her equally stellar 142 that saw off the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to race to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.

“I thought I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” Healy remarked.

Interestingly, the utmost professionalism of the day's chase as the duo put on 202 came after perhaps the team's poorest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for dropping two 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 batting, and luckily got the job done,” she added.

From the time data was initially taken on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches represented Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.

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

It helped the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest total in an One-Day International against Australia, with a key batter compiling the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.

But the spinner's spellbinding continuous 10-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was key to making sure Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.

The Captain Pleased with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Place

The Australian skipper was delighted to learn that the victory, which puts her unbeaten side top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.

The experienced skipper raced 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 accelerated from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.

Litchfield Impresses with First World Cup Half-Century

The young batter Litchfield struck 12 fours and a six, reaching to her first World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner got there off 43. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.

In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, Healy spilled the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a difficult skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire turned down their appeal.

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

Spinners Thrive as Alana King Leads

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

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

A batter's 44 and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the total was made to look easy meat by a side who had chased down 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 star performer Alana King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to Indore to face the English team and the Proteas.”