Day 21 Talking Points CWC22: Beth Mooney makes her mark as Bangladesh show they belong on the big stage
Basin Reserve, Wellington - Match 25
M25 Match Highlights: Bangladesh v Australia
The ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup debutants faced their toughest test yet against the undefeated Australia and more than held their own in blustery conditions.
Openers Murshida Khatun and Sharmin Akter were able to see off Australia’s pace bowlers Megan Schutt and Darcie Brown, who unusually didn’t pick up a wicket between them until the final over of the innings, while Fargana Hoque was the only batter to fall to Annabel Sutherland’s seamers.
This helped set up Bangladesh to bat through their rain-reduced 43 overs for the loss of six wickets, and while they didn’t set a huge target it was enough to give Australia a fright as Salma Khatun delivered a stunning opening spell and ended with 3/23 off nine overs.
WICKET: Lanning is gone for a duck
Beth Mooney entered this clash with the best batting average at CWC22 but often coming in after a dominant top-order means she hadn’t yet had an opportunity to properly make her mark on a particular match.
But after Salma Khatun and her fellow spinners shocked Australia to leave them 41/4 and then 70/5 Mooney took charge and scored a crucial and unbeaten 66 runs that led her team to a hard-earned victory.
The 28-year-old now has 225 runs in the tournament with a lowest score of 21, while only being dismissed twice in seven innings and with an average of 112.5 is more than just a reminder of how deep Australia bats.
Highlights: Beth Mooney with a crucial half-century
The windy weather made it tricky for Australia’s pace attack to have their usual impact on the match but that merely set the stage for the spinners to take on a leading role.
Jess Jonassen was arguably the pick of the bunch as the left-armer initially threatened to take a bag of wickets and later tied-down Bangladesh through her nine overs that ended with 2/13 and an incredible 47 dot balls.
The 29-year-old Jonassen now has eight wickets at CWC22, as do off-spinner Ashleigh Gardner and leg-spinner Alana King.
The trio’s talents complement each other well and together they look set to have a big say in which team ultimately takes the trophy home.
WICKET: Khatun caught sweeping