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Alyssa Healy has produced brilliant back-to-back hundreds to steer her team into the last four of the World Cup, driving them to a dominant 10-wicket victory over Bangladesh.

Healy finished not out on 113, coming just a few days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to chase to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.

“I felt I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” Healy remarked.

Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo put on 202 came after perhaps the team's poorest display in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for dropping a couple of the half-dozen catches that were missed.

“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and fortunately succeeded,” she added.

From the time statistics was first recorded on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities represented the team's worst 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 an issue we’ll review,” the captain said.

This allowed the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest score in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.

But the spinner's mesmeric continuous 10-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was vital to ensuring the team's target remained manageable.

The Captain Delighted with Victory that Seals Knockout Place

Healy was delighted to discover that the triumph, which places her unbeaten side at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she said.

The experienced captain sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from her partner later in the knock after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.

The Opener Shines with First Tournament Half-Century

Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 balls soon after her partner reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.

Earlier, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy dropped the simplest of edges off a teammate and also failed to grasp a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their appeal.

The reinstated Brown sent down the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ most expensive bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.

Spin Attack Excel as King Leads

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 slips.

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

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

“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate going back to the next venue to face the English team and South Africa.”