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Alyssa Healy has delivered brilliant back-to-back centuries to lead her team into the last four of the World Cup, driving them to a merciless comprehensive win over Bangladesh.

The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her similarly stellar 142 that saw off hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an undefeated 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to chase to their target of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.

“I thought I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the win and move on,” Healy remarked.

Ironically, the utmost professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the pair put on 202 came after possibly the team's poorest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in especial for spilling two 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.

Since statistics was initially taken on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the six dropped opportunities marked Australia’s worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.

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

This allowed the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.

But Alana King mesmeric continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was key to making sure the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.

The Captain Pleased with Victory that Seals Knockout Place

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

The 35-year-old skipper raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.

Litchfield Impresses with First Tournament Fifty

Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries soon after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.

Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, the captain spilled the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clear chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their appeal.

The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.

Spinners Excel as King Stars

In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, led by King, whose spell could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.

Other spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to 13.

Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their record score against the Australians, but the total was rendered straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side a few days before.

“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked star performer Alana King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to face the English team and the Proteas.”