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Alyssa Healy has produced superb back-to-back centuries to lead her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a commanding comprehensive victory over Bangladesh.

Healy finished not out on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her similarly impressive 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an undefeated 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to dash to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.

“I felt I was a below par behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” she said.

Interestingly, the utmost expertise of the day's chase as the duo added 202 came after possibly the team's poorest performance in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for spilling a couple of the half-dozen chances that went down.

“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and luckily got the job done,” she added.

Since statistics was initially taken on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the half-dozen missed catches marked the team's poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.

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

It helped 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 half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.

But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was key to ensuring the team's chase remained manageable.

The Captain Pleased with Victory that Confirms Knockout Spot

Healy was thrilled to discover that the victory, which places her undefeated side at the top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.

The 35-year-old skipper sped to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from her partner later in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.

Litchfield Impresses with First Tournament Fifty

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

In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy spilled the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clear chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the official rejected their appeal.

The recalled Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.

Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Leads

Instead, the spinners excelled, led by King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.

Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to 13.

A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the target was made to look straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 against the Indian side four days earlier.

“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to face the English team and the Proteas.”