Australia 93 for 2 (Healy 33, Perry 27*, Mooney 21*, Rabeya 1-21) beat Bangladesh 89 (Nigar 16, Garth 3-11, Gardner 3-25, Perry 2-17, Molineux 2-23) by eight wickets
A ruthless Australia showed little mercy to Bangladesh, thumping them by eight wickets to sweep their ODI series in Dhaka on Wednesday.
Already 2-0 up, Alyssa Healy won the toss and had little hesitation in bowling. And opening pair Kim Garth and Ellyse Perry dominated early, removing the top three batters – Fargana Hoque (5), Sumaiya Akter (0) and Murshida Khatun (8) – by the end of the eighth over with just 24 on the board.
Bangladesh never recovered, and stumbled throughout the innings, losing wickets at regular intervals to be bowled out for 89 in 26.2 overs.
It could have been worse for Bangladesh, though, but Australia bowled 14 wides, helping extras finish as the top-scorer with 20. Captain Nigar Sultana was next best with 16, which she made off 39 deliveries.
Garth, who had returned in place of the rested Megan Schutt, claimed 3 for 11 in seven overs to claim the Player-of-the-Match honours, while Ash Gardner, Perry and Sophie Molineux provided solid support.
Australia didn’t waste much time to knock off the target with Healy (33 in 34 balls), Perry (27 not out in 28) and Beth Mooney (21 not out in 22) helping them get to 93 for 2 in 18.3 overs.
The two wickets to fall were of Healy – leg before to Rabeya Khatun – and Phoebe Litchfield, who was caught and bowled by Sultana Khatun for 12.
Gardner’s three-wicket haul earned her the Player-of-the-Series award, given her exploits in the opening matches. She made 32 and took 3 for 22 in the first ODI, and in the second claimed 2 for 22 and made an undefeated 20.
Australia will now meet Bangladesh in three T20Is, the first of which will be played on Sunday, March 31, and will be followed by matches on Tuesday, April 2 and Thursday, April 4. All the games will be played in Dhaka.
