Australia underlined their status as tournament favourites as they beat Bangladesh by 9 wickets at Headingley. Sent in by Sophie Molineux, Bangaldesh struggled to deal with the overcast swinging conditions and only managed 77 in their allotted 20 overs. Australia overhauled that target in just 9 and a half overs, primarily thanks to an unbeaten 45 from opener Georgia Voll.
Spin had done the job for the Aussies against South Africa Women in Manchester in their tournament opener, but with conditions more suitable to fast bowling in Leeds, Molineux called upon their pacers, who didn’t disappoint.
Openers Juairiya Ferdous and Dilara Akter had played key roles with the bat for the Tigresses in their win over the Netherlands, but were both knocked over early by Kim Garth. The conditions were even good enough for Elysse Perry to roll her arm over- she rarely does so these days, and she made the most of them with figures of 2/14, accounting for Sobhana Mostary and Shorna Akter.
That Bangladesh managed 77 was mainly down to a 32 run partnership between skipper Joty (Nigar Sultana) and Ritu Moni. Joty top scored with 27, but was dismissed LBW in the penultimate over by opposite number Molineux. As many as five Australian bowlers were among the wickets as Bangladesh finished with a disappointing 77, scoring at less than four runs an over.
The conditions were tricky, but the likes of Marufa didn’t have the same success with the ball as Garth and Perry and Australia coasted to the target in just 9.3 overs. With two games done, they already have a NRR of 3.875 and one can see why the Melbet app has them as favourites to reach the final. The Aussies are expected to top this group, and with New Zealand imploding in Group 2, one of Sri Lanka or West Indies look likely to be their semi-final opponents. On paper, that’s as easy a route to the final as one could ask.
The only worry for them is a clash against India (assuming Harmanpreet Kaur’s charges beat South Africa, whom they’ve struggled against in recent times). They’ll also be hoping that Phoebe Litchfield is fit for that clash- she missed this Bangladesh game due to fitness issues and is likely to miss their next two games as well.
It wasn’t just the women- Australia’s men also beat Bangladesh in a T20 in Asia on the same day to go 1-0 up in their series. Bangladesh opted to bat first, but struggled against the spin of Adam Zampa and debutant Joel Davies, who took six wickets between them in Chattogram as the hosts were restricted to just 131.
Cooper Connolly, fresh from his stunning 149 in the third ODI a few days ago in Dhaka, broke the back of the chase with a quickfire 27 ball 47, and although the visitors had some minor hiccups towards the end, they ran out winners by 4 wickets.
Nikhil Chaudhary, also making his debut here alongside Davies, had a memorable outing too- he took 1/14 with the ball, took the catch that dismissed Soumya Sarkar, and also scored a vital 18 (13) with the bat towards the end.