Venue : Manuka Oval, Canberra
Toss : Australia Women won the toss and opt to bat
Captain’s talk
Salma Khatun, Bangladesh skipper:Â We are okay to field first and excited to play Australia for the first time. We didn’t field well in the last game and we hope to correct that today. One change for us.
Meg Lanning, Australia skipper:Â We are gonna have bat today. It’s generally a good batting wicket here and gives us a chance to start well with the bat. We don’t know them (Bangladesh) that well, but they played well against India the other night. So, we have done a lot of research but it’s about putting it out in the park. As prepared as we can be, it’s about delivering. Perry is good and she is good to go. Sutherland and Wareham come in today and um…not sure who is out. (*chuckles*)
Squad
Bangladesh Women (Playing XI): Shamima Sultana, Murshida Khatun, Sanjida Islam, Nigar Sultana(w), Fargana Hoque, Rumana Ahmed, Fahima Khatun, Jahanara Alam, Salma Khatun(c), Nahida Akter, Khadija Tul Kubra
Australia Women (Playing XI): Alyssa Healy(w), Beth Mooney, Ashleigh Gardner, Meg Lanning(c), Rachael Haynes, Ellyse Perry, Annabel Sutherland, Jess Jonassen, Nicola Carey, Georgia Wareham, Megan Schutted
Australia’s aggressive strike
The defending champion Australia get down to play their third match in the Women’s T20I World cup. Healy and Mooney are at the crease, Healy is on strike. Jahanara Alam opens the attack. Healy who return pavilion for a golden duck in the match against Sri Lanka has to prove herself in this match.
Healy without any delay strike the very first ball of the match towards boundary. Where everyone expected a defense strike in the first ball. With a triple boundaries in the first over Healy showed her form. This duo almost converts every ball of the match to score. Bangladesh bowlers struggled to pick a wicket as this duo strikes aggressively.
Healy reached half century in just 26 balls
Healy with her 71 meter maximum six lifts Australia to cross 50 runs in total. Healy looks to have found her mojo today. At the end of power play Australia scored 53 runs without a wicket loss. Healy with two consecutive sixes in Khadija’s over reached the half-century in just 26 balls. This is the second fifty of the tournament for Healy. Almost the run rate remains nearly 9 per over till the power play ends.
After the power play ends Mooney too starts to strike big shots which leads Australia to score 96 runs in first 10 overs without a wicket loss. Mooney with a boundary in Jahanara Alam’s over lifts Australia towards a total of 100 runs, that’s a ton for Australia without loosing a wicket!!!.
Highest ever opening partnership for Australia in T20Is.
The 100 run standing partnership continuous to strike in an aggressive way that Bangladesh bowlers struggled to face them. Mooney in Rumana Ahmed’s over, driven away to sweeper cover and brings up her fifty with a single. Healy and Mooney partnership reached 121 runs which is the  highest ever opening partnership for Australia in T20Is.
After 15 over Australia scored 129 runs without losing any wicket. Fianlly Salma Khatun puts an end to Healy’s terrific innings after dismissing her for 83 runs from just 53 balls. This opening duo gathered 150 runs for their first wicket and placed Australia in an advanced position.
Mooney’s impressive strike
Though Healy gets down, Ashleigh Gardner paired with Mooney and contribute 22 runs and boost the Australian’s score. Gardner strikes Salma Khatun ‘s over in an impressive way and scored 14 runs in that particular over. Mooney stand undefeated in ground with a score of 81 runs from 58 balls. Ashleigh Gardner scored 22 runs in just 9 balls and pumped Australia to score 189 runs.
Australian Innings Over view
It’s been a stunning display by Australia. They had a slow start to this tournament but they surely brought their A+ game to the fore today. Healy and Mooney put a record opening partnership of 151 runs to get Australia off to a dream start. They both took Bangladesh bowlers to the cleaners who looked rattled by the blitzkrieg of Aussie openers. Healy departed for 83 but Mooney carried on and finished the innings on a high with a magnificent 81 to power Australia to formidable 189. Bangladesh would be gutted with their effort in the field as they dropped a lot of straight forward chances. They have a mountain to climb to grab the victory.
A massive target to chase
Bangladesh have to chase down a massive target of 190 runs to register their first victory in this tournament. Shamima Sultana and Murshida Khatun get down to crease, Shamima Sultana is on strike. Perry opens the attack against Bangladesh. Bangladesh have to maintain a strong partnership in order to chase this massive score. Schutt in her second over scattered Bangladesh’s dream of victory by uprooting Murshida Khatun for 8 runs and Shamima Sultana for 13 runs.
Annabel’s maiden wicket in T20I World cup 2020
Bangladesh lost two of its opener to the Australian right-arm fast medium bowler Schutt, its a huge blow for the Bangladesh. Annabel Sutherland picks up her maiden wicket in T20I World cup 2020 by dismissing Sanjida Islam in her first over by a short delivery. After power play Bangladesh scored 27 runs for three wicket lose where Australia scored 53 runs for no wicket lose.
Bangladesh in need of “miracle” to happen
After 10 overs Bangladesh scored 45 runs for three wicket lose where Fargana Hoque and Nigar Sultana stands in crease. Bangladesh have to execute a miraculous performance in order to chase down this target after losing three wickets. Carey puts an end to the Nigar Sultana’s performance when she scored 19 off 32 balls. And the 51 runs partnership has been broken atlast.
With a need of 104 from 24 balls, the victory seems opened the door for Australian team. Fargana Hoque and Rumana Ahmed stands helpless in ground as their openers failed to provide a strong base. An impossible target of 90 runs to achieve from 6 balls, the victory lies in the hand of Australia. The long struggle of Bangladesh comes to an end as Australia won Bangladesh by 86 runs.
Player of the match
Alyssa Healy(Australia)
Batting : 83 runs from 53 balls(10×4,3×6)
Alyssa Healy : That’s something we identified and worked on especially (hitting straight against spinners )in the powerplay and the plan worked today. The sub-continent teams are trying to bowl as slow and we have practised a lot in the nets yesterday. Tonight with the breeze we have identified the short boundaries and Beth and I worked out which areas to target. Not easy to field under lights and we have done okay today.
Captain’s view
Meg Lanning | Australia captain:Â It was a good all-round performance. Alyssa and Beth set the tone for us, right from the first ball. The attacking nature from them was good. Good all-round performance, something we needed. We wanted to go out there and be attacking. We were timid in the first two matches. As I said, they set the tone and everyone followed. As far as I know, everyone’s okay. World Cups is all about big games and we want to be part of them. New Zealand are playing good cricket, so we need to play well. The performance today was more about how we play and how we have played in the last 18 months. We again need to do better against New Zealand.
Salma Khatun | Bangladesh captain: Australia is a very good team. We didn’t bowl in the right areas. 190 was a big target. Their bowlers bowled well. I’m looking forward to the matches against New Zealand and Sri Lanka.
