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Alyssa Healy has delivered brilliant back-to-back hundreds to steer her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, motivating them to a commanding 10-wicket victory over their opponents.

The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her similarly impressive 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.

“I thought I was a not at my best with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.

Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s chase as the duo added 202 came after possibly the team's weakest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for dropping a couple of the six chances that were missed.

“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately delivered,” Healy continued.

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

“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” the captain said.

This allowed Bangladesh to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever total in an ODI against Australia, with a key batter compiling the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.

But Alana King mesmeric continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was key to making sure Australia’s chase remained manageable.

Healy Delighted with Win that Seals Knockout Spot

The Australian skipper was delighted to learn that the triumph, which places her unbeaten side at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.

The experienced captain raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.

Litchfield Impresses with First World Cup Fifty

Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries soon after her partner reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.

In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, Healy spilled the simplest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to hold on to a tough lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clean chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their shout.

The recalled Brown sent down the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was still the team's most expensive bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.

Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Leads

Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.

Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to 13.

A batter's 44 and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their record total against the Australians, but the target was rendered straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 against India four days before.

“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked star performer Alana King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to Indore to face England and the Proteas.”