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Alyssa Healy has executed superb consecutive hundreds to steer her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a merciless 10-wicket victory over their opponents.

The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113, coming just a few days after her equally impressive 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the identical Vizag venue. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to race to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.

“I thought I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” she said.

Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair added 202 runs followed perhaps the team's shoddiest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for spilling two of the six catches that went down.

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

Since statistics was initially taken on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the six missed catches represented Australia’s poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.

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

It helped Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 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 Asian side against the world champions.

But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was crucial to ensuring the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.

Healy Pleased with Win that Seals Knockout Place

The Australian skipper was thrilled to discover that the victory, which puts her undefeated side top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a place in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.

The experienced captain sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries 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 Impresses with Maiden Tournament Fifty

Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her first World Cup fifty off 46 balls shortly after her partner reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best stand by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.

Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain dropped the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a tough lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clean chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official turned down their shout.

The recalled Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.

Spinners Thrive as King Stars

In contrast, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.

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

A batter's 44 and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the target was rendered straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 against the Indian side a few days earlier.

“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to Indore to take on the English team and South Africa.”