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The Australian skipper has executed brilliant back-to-back hundreds to steer her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a commanding 10-wicket win over Bangladesh.

The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her equally stellar 142 that defeated the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.

“I thought I was a below par behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” she said.

Ironically, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s chase as the duo added 202 runs came after perhaps the team's shoddiest display in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for spilling a couple of the half-dozen catches that went down.

“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately succeeded,” she added.

From the time data was initially taken on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the six dropped opportunities represented Australia’s worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.

“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll review,” Healy commented.

It helped the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their highest total in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter compiling the maiden half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.

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

The Captain Delighted with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Spot

Healy was pleased to discover that the triumph, which puts her undefeated side top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she said.

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

Litchfield Shines with Maiden World Cup Fifty

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

Earlier, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain dropped the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a tough skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also take a clear catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official turned down their appeal.

The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the team's costliest bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.

Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Leads

Instead, the spinners excelled, led by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.

Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to thirteen.

A batter's 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took the team to their record total against the Aussies, but the total was rendered easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 against India four days earlier.

“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” said star performer Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate going back to the next venue to take on England and South Africa.”