Australia on Friday defeated Bangladesh by 5 wickets in the ongoing Women’s World Cup at the Basin Reserve in Wellington.
Chasing a target of 136, Australia lost a few early wickets before Mooney’s heroics, and a cameo from Annabel Sutherland helped them cross the finishing line with more than 10 overs to spare.
Earlier, Bangladesh had managed to post a total of 135 for six, following Lata Mondal’s 33-run cameo. This was Australia’s seventh win in the tournament, and have already qualified for the knockout stage.
Beth Mooney wins the Man of the Match award for her exceptional day with the blade. She says, that it was really tough, they were discussing it out there. Tells that Bangladesh bowled extremely well and put them under the pump. Adds that she feels extremely lucky to be playing for an elite team like Australia. Says that Sutherland is an intelligent cricketer and has the skill set to play for as long as she wants to.
Meg Lanning, the skipper of Australia, says that the conditions were very tough and the hardest she has played in. Mentions that Bangladesh played extremely well and put them under pressure but it was all about finding a way to get a win. Tells that Mooney and Sutherland did well to get them over the line. Adds that they will settle down now in the next couple of days before regathering focus for the semi-finals.
Nigar Sultana, the Bangladesh Women’s skipper, says, she is really proud of the performances the girls pulled out. Adds, they would still love to work on their batting, as she feels they were 30-40 runs short. Mentions, Jahanara Alam was finding it difficult to steam in with the breeze blowing across. She later put all her money on the spinners and that did work for them initially. Mentions it was difficult to execute the fielding changes with the left-right combination at the crease.
