Captain Nigar Sultana: Captain Nigar Sultana waged a lone battle with a patient 27, but Bangladesh struggled throughout their innings as a disciplined Australian bowling attack held them to a paltry 77/8 in 20 overs in Match 9 of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 at Headingley on Wednesday.After being put in to bat, Bangladesh endured a difficult start and never managed to recover as Australia’s bowlers maintained tight lines and regularly struck at crucial moments.
Bangladesh scored just three runs in the opening over before Kim Garth provided the first breakthrough in the second over. The pacer produced a superb delivery that crashed into the stumps of Dilara Akhtar, who departed without scoring.
The early wicket increased the pressure on Bangladesh, whose batters found it difficult to rotate the strike. Jauiriya Ferdous, coming off a half-century in the previous match, briefly looked positive and struck a boundary at the end of the third over. However, Garth returned to dismiss her for eight off nine balls, trapping her lbw with an inswinging delivery.
Australia continued to tighten their grip when captain Sophie Molineux joined the wicket-taking act. Sharmin Akhtar, who struggled to find any rhythm, was trapped lbw as Bangladesh slipped further into trouble.
Nigar Sultana and Sobhana Mostary then attempted to rebuild the innings. Mostary showed some attacking intent and found the boundary against Garth in the final ball of the powerplay as Bangladesh reached 22/3 after six overs.
Just when Bangladesh appeared to be settling, veteran all-rounder Elyssa Perry struck twice in the same over to push Australia firmly into control. Perry first dismissed Sobhana, who miscued an attempted drive and was caught by Molineux at cover. A few deliveries later, she trapped Shorna Akter in front of the stumps, reducing Bangladesh to 34/5.
With half the side back in the pavilion inside eight overs, Nigar and Ritu Moni focused on rebuilding the innings. However, Australia’s bowlers gave away very little, making scoring extremely difficult. The conditions also favoured the seamers, with the pitch offering significant assistance. The average seam movement in the first ten overs was measured at 2.6 degrees, the highest recorded in the tournament so far.
Bangladesh’s scoring rate remained sluggish as boundaries dried up for long periods. The team crossed the 50-run mark only in the 16th over, when Ritu finally broke the drought with a boundary off Perry.
The partnership was eventually broken in the 17th over when Georgia Wareham dismissed Ritu for 16 from 26 deliveries. Despite losing her partner, Nigar continued to hold one end together, but her cautious innings came to an end when she attempted an attacking shot against Molineux and was dismissed for 27 off 47 balls, an innings that included two boundaries.
Annabel Sutherland added further misery for Bangladesh in the final over by removing Rabeya Khan as Australia completed a dominant bowling performance.
Brief Scores: Bangladesh 77/8 in 20 overs (Nigar Sultana 27, Ritu Moti 16; Ellyse Perry 2-14, Sophie Molineux 2-14, Kim Garth 2-18) against Australia
Article Source: IANS
