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Alyssa Healy has executed outstanding consecutive centuries to steer her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a merciless 10-wicket victory over Bangladesh.

The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her similarly stellar 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the identical Vizag venue. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84no) to chase to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.

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

Ironically, the utmost professionalism of the day's run-chase as the duo put on 202 runs followed perhaps Australia’s shoddiest display in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in particular for dropping two of the six chances that were missed.

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

From the time statistics was first taken on fielding metrics in the year 2013, the six missed opportunities represented 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 an issue we’ll review,” Healy said.

This allowed the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.

But Alana King spellbinding unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was crucial to ensuring Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.

Healy Pleased with Victory that Seals Knockout Spot

The Australian skipper was pleased to discover that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten side at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.

The experienced skipper sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from her partner later in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.

The Opener Impresses with First Tournament Fifty

Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her first World Cup half-century off 46 balls shortly after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.

Earlier, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain dropped the simplest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to hold on to a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire turned down their appeal.

The reinstated Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was still the team's most expensive bowler, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.

Spinners Thrive as King Stars

Instead, the spinners excelled, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.

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

A batter's 44 and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their record score against the Aussies, but the target was rendered easy meat by a side who had successfully pursued 330 against India a few days before.

“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said star performer King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to take on the English team and the Proteas.”