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The Australian skipper has executed outstanding consecutive hundreds to steer her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, driving them to a merciless comprehensive win over their opponents.

Healy remained unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just four days after her similarly brilliant 142-run knock that defeated hosts India at the same Vizag venue. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to dash to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 overs.

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

Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s chase as the pair put on 202 came after perhaps the team's weakest performance in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for spilling two of the six chances that went down.

“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily got the job done,” she added.

Since statistics was first recorded on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed catches represented the team's poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.

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

It helped the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their highest score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.

But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was key to ensuring Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.

The Captain Delighted with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Spot

Healy was pleased to learn that the victory, which places her undefeated team top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.

The 35-year-old skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their fifties.

Litchfield Impresses with First Tournament Fifty

The young batter Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her first World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries soon after Healy got there off 43. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.

Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, Healy dropped the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a tough lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official turned down their appeal.

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

Spinners Thrive as King Stars

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

Other spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her total to thirteen.

A batter's 44 and another's not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the target was rendered easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side four days earlier.

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