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The Australian skipper has delivered superb back-to-back hundreds to steer her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a merciless comprehensive win over their opponents.

The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113, arriving just a few days after her similarly brilliant 142 that saw off the Indian team at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to chase to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.

“I thought I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the win and progress,” Healy remarked.

Ironically, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s chase as the duo added 202 runs came after perhaps Australia’s shoddiest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for dropping a couple of the half-dozen chances that went down.

“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily delivered,” she added.

Since data was first recorded on fielding metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities marked Australia’s worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.

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

This allowed the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against Australia, with a key batter scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.

But the spinner's spellbinding continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was crucial to ensuring Australia’s target remained manageable.

Healy Delighted with Victory that Seals Knockout Place

Healy was pleased to discover that the victory, which puts her undefeated side at the top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.

The experienced skipper raced to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.

Litchfield Shines with Maiden World Cup Fifty

The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, getting to her first tournament half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.

Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain dropped the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a difficult skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also take a clean chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the official turned down their appeal.

The recalled Brown bowled the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.

Spinners Thrive as King Leads

Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by King, whose spell could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.

Other spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to 13.

Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's not out 66 off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the total was made to look easy meat by a side who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side a few days earlier.

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