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The Australian skipper has produced brilliant consecutive hundreds to lead her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, motivating them to a dominant comprehensive victory over Bangladesh.

The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her equally brilliant 142 that saw off the Indian team at the same Vizag venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to dash to their target of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.

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

Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair added 202 followed possibly Australia’s weakest performance in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for spilling two of the six catches that were missed.

“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily succeeded,” Healy continued.

Since statistics was first recorded on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the six missed catches marked Australia’s poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.

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

It helped the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, 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 Alana King mesmeric continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was key to making sure Australia’s target wasn’t too challenging.

The Captain Pleased with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Spot

Healy was thrilled to discover that the triumph, which puts her undefeated team 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 exclaimed.

The 35-year-old captain sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from her partner later in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.

Litchfield Shines with First World Cup Half-Century

The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her first World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries soon after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.

Earlier, during the sluggish fielding display, Healy spilled the easiest of edges off a teammate and also failed to grasp a tough lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clean chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their shout.

The reinstated Brown bowled the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.

Spinners Thrive as King Leads

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

Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her total to thirteen.

Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the total was rendered straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 against India four days earlier.

“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate going back to Indore to face England and the Proteas.”