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Alyssa Healy has delivered superb consecutive hundreds to guide her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a commanding comprehensive victory over Bangladesh.

Healy finished not out on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her equally stellar 142 that saw off the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an undefeated double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to dash to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.

“I thought I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” she said.

Ironically, the supreme professionalism of the day's chase as the duo added 202 followed possibly Australia’s weakest display in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for dropping two of the six chances that were missed.

“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and luckily succeeded,” she added.

From the time statistics was initially taken on fielding metrics in the year 2013, the six dropped opportunities marked Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.

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

It helped the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever score in an ODI against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.

But the spinner's mesmeric continuous 10-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was vital to ensuring the team's chase remained manageable.

The Captain Delighted with Victory that Confirms Knockout Place

The Australian skipper was delighted to discover that the triumph, which places her undefeated team at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.

The 35-year-old skipper raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.

The Opener Shines with Maiden World Cup Fifty

The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, getting to her first tournament half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.

In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, Healy dropped the simplest of edges off a teammate and also failed to grasp a tough skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean catch off Brown but failed to review when the umpire rejected their appeal.

The reinstated Brown sent down the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.

Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Stars

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

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

A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the target was made to look straightforward by a side who had successfully pursued 330 against the Indian side four days before.

“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” said star performer Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to take on the English team and the Proteas.”