Sophie Molineux and Ashleigh Gardner spin a web over Bangladesh after Georgia Wareham notched up her maiden T20I half-century as Australia seals the T20I series.
The Australian women’s team led by skipper Alyssa Healy clinched a thumping 10-wicket victory with 42 balls to spare in the 1st T20I against Bangladesh. Skipper Alyssa Healy (65* off 42 balls) was awarded the Player of the Match in the 1st T20I.
Australian skipper Alyssa Healy won the toss and opted to bat first in the 2nd T20I at the Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur. Australian openers Grace Harris and Phoebe Litchfield got off to a steady start, scoring six runs an over before Fariha Trisna picked up the wicket of Phoebe Litchfield to provide the first breakthrough for Bangladesh. Georgia Wareham joined Grace Harris at the crease and the duo stitched a massive 91-run partnership for the 2nd wicket before Nahida Akter picked up the much-needed wicket of Georgia Wareham to provide the 2nd breakthrough for her side. She completed her well-deserved maiden half-century (57 off 30 balls) in the T20I format after being promoted to number three in the batting unit.
Australia lost a couple of wickets in quick succession to bring the home side Bangladesh back into the contest. Fahima Khatun landed the double blow in the 13th over of the innings. Ellyse Perry joined Tahlia McGrath at the crease and the duo stitched a crucial 39-run partnership for the 5th wicket before Nahida Akter picked up the wicket of Tahlia McGrath to provide the 5th breakthrough for Bangladesh. Australia eventually ended up with a total of 161/8 in their quota of overs.
The 21-year-old left-arm pacer Fariha Trisna became the first Bangladesh bowler to pick up a hat trick against Australia in the T20I format. She also became the 3rd bowler in the T20I format to pick up a hat trick twice in the T20I format. Georgia Wareham (57 off 30 balls), Grace Harris (47 off 34 balls), and Ellyse Perry (29 off 22 balls) were the top performers with the bat for Australia. Fariha Trisna (4-1-19-4), Nahida Akter (4-0-21-2), and Fahima Khatun (4-0-34-2) were the top performers with the ball for Bangladesh.
Chasing a target of 162, the Bangladesh openers Dilara Akter and Murshida Khatun got off to a confident start, scoring at almost 8 runs and over before they lost the wicket of Murshida Khatun in the 5th over of the run chase. Megan Schutt provided the first breakthrough for Australia. The home side Bangladesh, suffered a mini collapse as they lost their next three wickets for just 14 runs. Shorna Akter joined Fahima Khatun at the crease and the duo stitched a crucial 30-run partnership for the 5th wicket before Ashleigh Gardner cleaned up Fahima Khatun to provide the 5th breakthrough for her side.
Bangladesh suffered another dramatic collapse as they lost their next four wickets for just 25 runs and as a result, were restricted to 103/9 in their quota of overs, falling short of the target by 58 runs. Dilara Akter (27 off 25 balls), Shorna Akter (21 off 17 balls), Fahima Khatun (15 off 18 balls), and Rabeya Khan (14 off 17 balls) were the top performers with the bat for Bangladesh. Sophie Molineux (4-0-10-3), Ashleigh Gardner (4-0-17-3), and Georgia Wareham (4-1-24-1) were the top performers with the ball for Australia. Georgia Wareham was awarded the Player of the Match for her brilliant all-round performance, scoring (57 off 30 balls), her maiden half-century in the T20I format for Australia. Apart from her exploits with the bat, she also returned with outstanding match figures (4-1-24-1) with the ball, playing a crucial role in helping Australia seal the T20I series by winning the 2nd T20I by 58 runs. The 3rd and final T20I of the three-match T20I series will be played on 4th April 2024 at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka from 11:30 am IST.