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Alyssa Healy has delivered outstanding consecutive hundreds to steer her squad into the last four of the World Cup, driving them to a commanding comprehensive trouncing over their opponents.

The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her similarly brilliant 142 that saw off the Indian team at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to chase to their goal of 199 in just under 25 overs.

“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 two points and progress,” she said.

Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo put on 202 runs followed possibly Australia’s poorest display in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for dropping two of the six catches that went down.

“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and luckily delivered,” Healy continued.

Since statistics was initially recorded on fielding metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches marked Australia’s worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.

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

It helped the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their highest total in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.

But Alana King spellbinding unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was crucial to ensuring the team's chase remained manageable.

The Captain Delighted with Win that Seals Knockout Place

The Australian skipper was pleased to discover 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 berth in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.

The experienced skipper raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.

The Opener Impresses with First Tournament Half-Century

Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her maiden tournament half-century off 46 deliveries soon after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.

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

The recalled Brown sent down the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.

Spin Attack Thrive as King Leads

Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.

Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's top wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to 13.

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

“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate returning to Indore to face England and South Africa.”