Gqeberha (South Africa), Feb 15: Leg-spinner Georgia Wareham grabbed three wickets on her return after more than a year, while skipper Meg Lanning slammed an unbeaten 48 as defending champions Australia eased to an eight-wicket win over Bangladesh in the Women’s T20 World Cup here.
This was Australia’s second win in the tournament from as many matches as they climbed past Sri Lanka atop the Group 1 standings on net run rate.
Wareham, who last played an international match in October 2021, bagged 3/20 from her four overs and was well-supported by pacer Darcie Brown (2/23) as Bangladesh managed a paltry 107 for seven after opting to bat.
It was a struggle for Bangladesh from the onset with captain Nigar Sultana standing tall amid the ruins, scoring 57 off 50 balls.
Bangladesh lost Shamima Sultana early with Beth Mooney taking a brilliant catch at extra cover from the bowling of Brown.
The fast bowler’s second wicket soon followed as she uprooted Murshida Khatun’s leg stump with just 11 runs on the board.
Then came in Bangladesh’s leading run scorer and captain Sultana, who struck back-to-back fours to inject some momentum into the innings. By the end of the powerplay, she had 21 off 13 after hitting Alana King for four and a six in quick succession. The skipper lost the company of Sobhana Mostary, who offered an easy catch to King and a first wicket for Wareham, who was making her first appearance of the competition.
Brown thought she had taken her third scalp of the evening just after the midway stage when Shorna Akter was given out caught behind, but the young batter survived on review.
The 16-year-old also escaped an lbw appeal in the next over and subsequently gave Sultana a platform to become the first Bangladeshi to score a half-century in the Women’s T20 World Cup. (PTI)
