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The Australian skipper has delivered superb back-to-back hundreds to steer her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, motivating them to a merciless comprehensive win over Bangladesh.

Healy finished not out on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her similarly brilliant 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to chase to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.

“I thought I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and probably a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” she said.

Ironically, the utmost professionalism of the day's run-chase as the pair put on 202 came after perhaps Australia’s poorest performance in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in particular 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 bat, and luckily got the job done,” she added.

Since statistics was first taken on fielding statistics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities marked Australia’s poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.

“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain said.

It helped Bangladesh to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their highest total in an ODI against Australia, with a key batter scoring the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.

But the spinner's mesmeric continuous ten-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was crucial to ensuring Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.

Healy Delighted with Victory that Seals Knockout Place

Healy was pleased to learn that the victory, which places 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 really cool,” she said.

The experienced captain sped to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.

Litchfield Impresses with Maiden Tournament Half-Century

The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.

In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, the captain spilled the simplest of chances off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clean chance off Brown but failed to review when the umpire turned down their shout.

The reinstated Brown sent down the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.

Spin Attack Thrive as King Stars

Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.

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

A batter's 44 and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the total was rendered straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 runs against India four days earlier.

“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate going back to the next venue to take on England and the Proteas.”