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The Australian skipper has delivered outstanding consecutive centuries to steer her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a commanding comprehensive win over their opponents.

Healy remained unbeaten on 113, arriving just a few days after her similarly stellar 142 that saw off the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to race to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 overs.

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

Ironically, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo put on 202 came after possibly the team's weakest performance in the field under the captain's leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for spilling two of the half-dozen chances that went down.

“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily succeeded,” she added.

From the time statistics was first taken on fielding statistics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches marked the team's worst fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.

“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” Healy said.

It helped Bangladesh to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their highest total in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.

But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken 10-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was vital to ensuring the team's target wasn’t too challenging.

Healy Delighted with Victory that Confirms Knockout Place

The Australian skipper was thrilled to learn that the victory, which puts her unbeaten team at the top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, secures them a place in the last-four. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.

The experienced skipper raced to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.

Litchfield Shines with First Tournament Half-Century

The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and a six, reaching to her first tournament fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.

Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, the captain dropped the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a tough lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their appeal.

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

Spin Attack Thrive as King Leads

In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, led by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.

Fellow spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to 13.

A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the target was rendered easy meat by a side who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India a few days earlier.

“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” said star performer King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to Indore to take on the English team and the Proteas.”