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The Australian skipper has delivered outstanding consecutive hundreds to guide her team into the last four of the World Cup, inspiring them to a merciless comprehensive trouncing over their opponents.

The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113, coming just four days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the identical Vizag venue. 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 24.5 deliveries.

“I thought I was a below par with the gloves, and probably a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.

Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair added 202 came after perhaps the team's shoddiest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in particular for spilling a couple of the half-dozen chances that were missed.

“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately delivered,” she added.

From the time data was first taken on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the six dropped catches marked Australia’s worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.

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

This allowed the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had opted to bat first, their highest score in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.

But Alana King mesmeric unbroken 10-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was key to making sure Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.

The Captain Pleased with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Spot

Healy was delighted to discover that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten team at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.

The 35-year-old skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from her partner later in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.

Litchfield Shines with Maiden World Cup Half-Century

Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, getting to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-best partnership 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 Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a tough skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clean catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the official rejected their shout.

The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.

Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Stars

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

Other spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to thirteen.

Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the target was made to look easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 runs against India a few days before.

“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked star performer Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We look forward to returning to Indore to take on England and South Africa.”