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The Australian skipper has executed outstanding consecutive centuries to guide her team into the last four of the World Cup, driving them to a commanding 10-wicket win over their opponents.

The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113, coming just a few days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that defeated hosts India at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to dash to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.

“I felt I was a below par behind the stumps, and probably a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.

Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s chase as the pair put on 202 followed perhaps the team's poorest performance in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in especial for dropping a couple of the six chances that were missed.

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

Since data was initially recorded on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities marked the team's poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.

“Maybe it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.

It helped the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their highest score in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.

But Alana King spellbinding unbroken 10-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was vital to ensuring Australia’s target remained manageable.

The Captain Pleased with Win that Seals Knockout Spot

Healy was pleased to discover that the victory, which puts her unbeaten team top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she said.

The experienced captain raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from her partner in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.

The Opener Shines with First World Cup Fifty

The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her first tournament fifty off 46 balls shortly after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.

Earlier, during the sluggish fielding display, Healy dropped the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clean catch off Brown but failed to review when the official turned down their appeal.

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

Spinners Thrive as Alana King Stars

In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, led by King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.

Other spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to 13.

Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's not out 66 off 80 balls 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 a few days before.

“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate going back to the next venue to take on the English team and South Africa.”