Australia Tame Tigresses

It was a clinical Australia that won a very lopsided encounter against Bangladesh, victors by 9 wickets, and turning the clock back with Ellyse Perry bowling for the first time in eons.

Australia fielded three spin bowlers in the XI, captain Sophie Molineux, Georgia Wareham and Alana King, with Ash Gardner rested. Megan Schutt and Kim Garth were the pacers, while Perry and Annabel Sutherland were also called on to bowl. It’s some bowling attack and it was no surprise to see them unleashed when Molineux won the toss and sent Bangladesh into bat.

This is the first series Bangladesh has played in England and it does seem that they are still coming to terms with the local conditions. Or maybe it was simply the Australians were ruthless, for the Tigresses only managed 77 runs in their 20 overs with two wickets still in hand, such was the difficulty the batters had in scoring.

Straight bowling was the cause. Five of the batters were trapped in front, all plumb, and two of them reviewed pointlessly. One more was clean bowled. Only skipper Nigar Sultana (27) has any confidence to play against this attack. If it wasn’t bad enough, Ellyse Perry (2-14) dusted off her bowling arm and continued the carnage.

Well, the first act of carnage. Georgia Voll (45*) was in sparkling form as she saw Australia home for the loss of only Beth Mooney. Perry came back for her second act and scored a brisk 19*, with Australia winning the match by 9 wickets inside the tenth over. Peryy was named Player of the Match for her fine double.

Australia are now two from two and sit comfortably with India at the top of Pool A. Both of those teams have one foot in the door of the finals. For Bangladesh, they will need to hurriedly lick their wounds before taking on Pakistan in a must-win match on the 20th.

Scores:

Bangladesh 77/8 (Nigar Sultana 27, Ellyse Perry 2-14, Sophie Molineux  2-14, Kim Garth 2-18) lost to
Australia 78/1 (Georgia Voll 45*, Ellyse Perry 19*, Marufa Akter 1-28) by 9 wickets

POTM: Ellyse Perry