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The Australian skipper has delivered superb consecutive hundreds to lead her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a commanding 10-wicket victory over Bangladesh.

The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her equally impressive 142 that defeated the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to dash to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.

“I thought I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.

Interestingly, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo added 202 runs came after possibly Australia’s weakest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in particular for spilling two of the half-dozen catches that were missed.

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

Since statistics was initially recorded on fielding metrics in 2013, the half-dozen missed catches marked Australia’s worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.

“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” Healy commented.

This allowed Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.

But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was key to ensuring Australia’s chase remained manageable.

The Captain Pleased with Victory that Confirms Knockout Spot

The Australian skipper was delighted to discover that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten team top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, secures them a berth 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 tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.

The Opener Impresses with Maiden Tournament Half-Century

Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 fours and a six, reaching to her first World Cup half-century off 46 balls soon after her partner reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.

In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain dropped the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their appeal.

The recalled Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the team's most expensive bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.

Spin Attack Thrive as King Stars

In contrast, the spinners thrived, led by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.

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

Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took the team to their record total against the Aussies, but the total was rendered straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 against the Indian side a few days before.

“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said star performer King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to take on England and the Proteas.”