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Alyssa Healy has produced outstanding back-to-back centuries to guide her squad into the last four of the World Cup, inspiring them to a dominant 10-wicket victory over Bangladesh.

The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113, arriving just a few days after her similarly brilliant 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an undefeated double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to dash to their goal of 199 in just under 25 overs.

“I thought I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and probably a bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” she said.

Interestingly, the utmost professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair put on 202 runs came after possibly the team's weakest performance in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in particular for dropping two of the six catches that went down.

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

From the time data was initially taken on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed catches represented the team's poorest fielding display 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 said.

It helped Bangladesh to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their highest score in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.

But Alana King spellbinding unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was crucial to making sure Australia’s target wasn’t too challenging.

Healy Delighted with Win that Seals Knockout Place

Healy was thrilled to discover that the triumph, which places her unbeaten team at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That's great news,” she said.

The experienced skipper sped to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.

Litchfield Shines with First Tournament Fifty

Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, getting to her first tournament fifty off 46 balls shortly after her partner got there off 43. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.

Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain spilled the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clean catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the official turned down their shout.

The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the team's most expensive bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.

Spinners Excel as King Leads

In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, led by King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.

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

Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's not out 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the target was made to look easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side a few days before.

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