The commentary is not available for this match. Please check the scorecard for latest updates.
So that is all that we have for you from the Basin Reserve in Wellington for today, but Bangladesh Women made it an interesting match in the end with a stupendous performance! Australia Women though, were experienced enough to get the job done finally. What comes next in the Women's World Cup is the hosts, New Zealand taking on a struggling Pakistan side. Can the White Ferns finish on a high or will Bismah Maroof's team hand Sophie Devine and company, another defeat? Stay tuned to Sportskeeda tomorrow to find out. It was a pleasure bringing you all the action from the 2nd innings today, and now, this is the pair of Pradeep and Bidipto, taking your leave!
MATCH SUMMARY
Bangladesh Women, batting first - 135 runs for the loss of 6 wickets in their 43 overs (DLS method); Lata Mondol 33 (63), Jess Jonassen [9-3-13-2] Australia Women, batting second - 136 runs for the loss of 5 wickets in 32.1 overs (DLS method); Beth Mooney 66* (75), Salma Khatun [9-0-23-3]
Australia Women beat Bangladesh Women by 5 wickets (DLS method).
Player of the Match: Beth Mooney 66* (75) (5x4)
The first surprise was that of Bangladesh batting their full 43 overs. The second surprise was that they were only 6 down getting to 135 with the bat. But the third surprise was something no one, including Meg Lanning's Australia, were in for - Bangladesh, playing Australia for the first time, took 5 early wickets consistently to make life as difficult as possible for the number one team in the world, in tough conditions with the wind blowing strongly. In the end though, Beth Mooney's unbeaten half-century and Annabel Sutherland's composure at the crease ensured no further hiccups for the best side in the competition as Australia Women finished the group stage with 7 wins out of 7 matches.
The 2nd innings started off rather decently for Australia, but the moment Alyssa Healy found Jahanara Alam in the deep trying to slog-sweep, handing Bangladesh their first wicket, things changed from good to bad and turned worse for the batting team as Salma Khatun bowled both economical and wicket-taking overs to put more pressure on the batting. She got well backed by the rest of the spinners in tightening the screws. Nahida Akter and Rumana Ahmed were the other two wicket-takers.
Bangladesh kept hitting the good length area and did not give any width to the batters to free their arms and get going. The stunning catch from Fargana Hoque Pinky at mid-off to dismiss Rachael Haynes was a highlight. As light started to fade, batting started to feel more pressure.
But a solid 50-run partnership between left-handed Mooney and right-handed Sutherland calmed the nerves in the Australian dressing room and took their team over the finish line. Beth Mooney was busy at the crease, looking as positive as ever, and she got the kind of support in Annabel Sutherland lower down the order, that Australia were looking for. Both batters showed great footwork against the spinners.
Bangladesh can be happy with their performance against such a mighty team. They were good with the ball right through. If only they could stop a few more runs and take a few more catches, we could have had a shocking result on our hands today. But this performance will help Nigar Sultana Joty's team gain a lot of confidence heading into their match against England on Sunday, on this very ground.
Australia Women captain, Meg Lanning: The conditions were very difficult to play in but thankfully for us, even after all the pressure Bangladesh put on us, we got the win. It was pretty dark even with the spinners bowling. To be able to fight it out with the bat, especially for a young player like Annabel Sutherland. We will settle down now in the next couple of days before regathering focus for the semi-finals.
Bangladesh Women captain, Nigar Sultana Joty: Today, we could at least give Australia a tough time in the middle. Our bowlers did really well but we need to do better with the bat in terms of scoring more runs. Even though Jahanara struggled against the wind in her run-up, Salma bowled extremely well today, it was her show actually. When we went in to the dressing room, we said that it was a decent score on the board, all we need is wickets. It was really dark yes, but we were up for it through all the difficulties. We played our first match here, lots of positives to take from it, he will look to put all that to use in the match against England.
Beth Mooney has been awarded the Player of the match for her match winning innings when Australia were in dire straits during the chase!
Beth Mooney: It was really difficult to see the ball in the middle at the end, quite dark. Obviously they bowled really well and put us under the pump under difficult condition. It was more learning on the job, we obviously played them in the T20 World Cup, we had a little bit of intel but they are very versatile, their leg-spinners bowled offies, as a left-handed batter it's quite challenging, we went with the flow and saw what they threw at us. I think it's adapting to the situations at all times that's in front of you, it's a challenge to bat at number four or five but I'm thankful playing under this elite Australian side so I don't have to do a lot, nice to have spent time in the middle today. She's (about Sutherland) an intelligent cricketer in her own right, she read the game well, she's got the skillset to play in the Australian side for a longtime. Honestly, she can play just as a batter or a bowler any day, she's progressing nicely and she's making a huge impact as well.
Australia win all their matches in the group stage. They complete today's win by 5 wickets with 65 balls left.
32.1 Rumana Ahmed to Annabel Sutherland, THAT'S IT! Australia win but it was not all easy, Bangladesh made them work hard for every single run and had them on the mat at once but Mooney steered them to another victory and Australia remain unbeaten in the tournament! Length delivery on the middle and off, Sutherland lunges into it and whips it down to long-on for a single. Bangladesh must be proud of this performance and this should give them confidence to do well in the World stage in the future!
Australia won't mind the pressure they were put under today by Bangladesh. This was just the tonic they required heading into the semi-finals. But as good as they are, the win is now within striking distance for the batting side. Only 1 run to win now with 66 balls remaining.
32
overs
135/5score
1
0
1
4
2
0
runs
Beth Mooney*
66(75)
Annabel Sutherland
25(38)
Nahida Akter
1/33
31.6 Nahida Akter to Beth Mooney, drops it short on the off-stump, Mooney goes back and across and cuts it straight to the cover fielder.
Video
;'/></svg>)
M Schutt
;'/></svg>){kind=small}
Basin Reserve, Wellington
Beth Mooney
*
Nahida Akter
