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Alyssa Healy has executed brilliant back-to-back hundreds to guide her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, motivating them to a commanding comprehensive trouncing over Bangladesh.

The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84no) to dash to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.

“I felt I was a below par with the gloves, and probably a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the win and move on,” she said.

Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair put on 202 runs came after perhaps Australia’s poorest performance in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for dropping a couple of the half-dozen catches that were missed.

“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and fortunately got the job done,” Healy continued.

From the time statistics was first taken on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed catches marked the team's worst 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 an issue we’ll review,” Healy said.

It helped Bangladesh to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever score in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.

But the spinner's spellbinding continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was vital to ensuring Australia’s target wasn’t too challenging.

Healy Pleased with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Place

Healy was thrilled to learn that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten side top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That's great news,” she said.

The 35-year-old skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.

Litchfield Shines with First World Cup Fifty

The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and a six, getting to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-highest stand by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.

In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain dropped the easiest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to 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 official turned down their shout.

The recalled Brown sent down the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.

Spinners Thrive as Alana King Stars

In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.

Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to thirteen.

A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the target was made to look straightforward by a side who had successfully pursued 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,” remarked star performer King. “Certainly it won't end here. We look forward to going back to Indore to take on the English team and South Africa.”