Australia on Friday beat Bangladesh by five wickets in Wellington, maintaining their flawless record at the Women’s Cricket World Cup.
Although the Tigers battled the six-time winners hard in a match where innings were cut to 43 overs due to the rain, the loss ended Bangladesh’s slender aspirations of reaching the semi-finals.
In a match that was basically a dead rubber for Australia, who are guaranteed a playoff position, Bangladesh made 135-6 after being put in to bat, with Lata Mondal top-scoring on 33.
The wind was so strong at Wellington’s Basin Reserve that the bails would not stay on the stumps and the umpires made the rare decision to play on without them.
Players from both teams waited to bat huddled on the sidelines wrapped in blankets, rubbing their hands together to ward off the cold.
“It’s certainly the hardest conditions I’ve played in,” Australia captain Meg Lanning said.
“I was freezing cold… today was about finding a way to get through it and win. We certainly had to fight, Bangladesh put us under pressure and played extremely well.”
Bangladesh’s batters made a slow start in the atrocious conditions, reaching 58-2 after 18 overs.
Sharmin Akhtar’s departure on 24 made runs even harder to come by, with Bangladesh scoring only eight from the next eight overs as Australia’s spinners piled on the pressure.
Mondal showed aggression late in the innings but fell in the final over as Bangladesh finished on 135-6.
Beth Mooney anchored Australia’s innings with an unbeaten 66, backed up by Annabel Sutherland’s 26 not out, while Salma Khatun took 3-23 for Bangladesh.
Australia is the only team in this year’s tournament that has not lost a game and is the clear favorite to win for the seventh time.
Bangladesh’s chances of progressing were always slim, requiring a succession of improbable events, but a win over Pakistan and tight losses to the West Indies and South Africa in their first World Cup campaign will give them hope.
They still have a chance to throw a spanner in the works by defeating England on Sunday and knocking out the defending champions.
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