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Alyssa Healy has delivered brilliant back-to-back hundreds to lead her squad into the last four of the World Cup, motivating them to a merciless 10-wicket victory over Bangladesh.

Healy remained not out on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her similarly impressive 142 that defeated hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to race to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 overs.

“I thought I was a below par behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.

Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the pair added 202 followed possibly Australia’s weakest performance in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for spilling two of the six catches that were missed.

“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and luckily delivered,” she added.

From the time statistics was first taken on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the six missed opportunities marked 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 an issue we’ll review,” the captain commented.

This allowed Bangladesh 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 scoring the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.

But Alana King spellbinding unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was vital to making sure the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.

The Captain Delighted with Victory that Confirms Knockout Spot

Healy was pleased to learn that the triumph, which puts her undefeated team at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the last-four. “That's great news,” she said.

The 35-year-old skipper raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she accelerated from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.

The Opener Shines with First Tournament Half-Century

Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her maiden tournament half-century off 46 balls soon after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-best stand by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.

In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, the captain spilled the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a tough lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean catch off Brown but failed to review when the official rejected their appeal.

The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.

Spinners Thrive as Alana King Leads

Instead, the spinners thrived, led by Alana King, whose spell could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.

Other spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to 13.

Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the target was rendered easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side four days earlier.

“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said star performer Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to Indore to face the English team and the Proteas.”