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Alyssa Healy has delivered outstanding consecutive hundreds to guide her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, driving them to a merciless 10-wicket trouncing over Bangladesh.

The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her equally stellar 142 that saw off the Indian team at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) to dash to their target of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.

“I thought I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” Healy remarked.

Ironically, the supreme professionalism of the day's run-chase as the duo added 202 runs followed perhaps the team's weakest display in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for dropping a couple of the six chances that were missed.

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

Since statistics was initially recorded on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed catches marked the team's poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.

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

It helped the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest total in an ODI against Australia, with a key batter scoring the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.

But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maidens, was crucial to making sure the team's target remained manageable.

Healy Pleased with Win that Seals Semi-Final Spot

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

The experienced captain raced to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from her partner in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.

The Opener Shines with First World Cup Fifty

Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her maiden tournament half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner got there off 43. They went on to record the third-best stand by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.

In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, Healy dropped the simplest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clear catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the official turned down their shout.

The recalled Brown bowled the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.

Spinners Thrive as Alana King Leads

Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.

Other spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her total to thirteen.

A batter's 44 and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their record total against the Australians, but the total was rendered easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side four days earlier.

“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it won't end here. We look forward to going back to the next venue to take on England and the Proteas.”