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Alyssa Healy has executed outstanding consecutive hundreds to lead her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving 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 stellar 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) to chase to their target of 199 in just under 25 overs.

“I felt I was a below par with the gloves, and probably a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” she said.

Ironically, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo added 202 came after perhaps the team's weakest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for dropping two of the six catches that were missed.

“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily succeeded,” Healy continued.

Since statistics was first recorded on fielding metrics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches represented Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.

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

It helped the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their highest total in an ODI against Australia, with a key batter compiling the maiden half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.

But Alana King spellbinding continuous ten-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was vital to making sure the team's target wasn’t too challenging.

The Captain Pleased with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Spot

Healy was pleased to learn that the victory, which places her unbeaten side at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.

The experienced skipper sped to her century 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 her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their half-centuries.

The Opener Shines with First World Cup Half-Century

Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 fours and a six, getting to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 balls shortly after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Australian pair at a Women’s World Cup.

In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, Healy spilled the easiest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their shout.

The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the team's most expensive bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.

Spinners Thrive as King Leads

In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.

Other spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her position as the competition's top wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to 13.

Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the total was made to look straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side a few days earlier.

“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked star performer Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We look forward to returning to Indore to take on the English team and South Africa.”