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The Australian skipper has delivered outstanding consecutive centuries to steer her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a dominant 10-wicket victory over Bangladesh.

The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just four 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 her opening partner (84 not out) to chase to their goal of 199 in just under 25 overs.

“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and probably a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll take the win and move on,” Healy remarked.

Ironically, the supreme expertise of the day's chase as the pair added 202 came after perhaps the team's shoddiest performance in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for dropping a couple of the six catches that went down.

“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily succeeded,” Healy continued.

Since statistics was initially recorded on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities marked Australia’s worst fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.

“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain said.

This allowed the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.

But Alana King mesmeric unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she took 2-18 with four maidens, was crucial to making sure Australia’s target remained manageable.

Healy Pleased with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Place

Healy was pleased to discover that the triumph, which places her undefeated team at the top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she said.

The 35-year-old captain sped to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their half-centuries.

Litchfield Shines with Maiden Tournament Half-Century

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

Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, Healy spilled the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clean catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their shout.

The reinstated Brown bowled the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.

Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Leads

In contrast, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.

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

Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the target was made to look straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 against India a few days earlier.

“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said star performer Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to Indore to face England and South Africa.”