ICC Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup: Australia cruise to victory while Bangladesh finish as group toppers

Australia boosted their confidence with a dominating victory over Sri Lanka while Bangladesh made sure they make light work of minnows USA in the ongoing U19 Women's World Cup on Wednesday, January 18.

Australia crushed Sri Lanka by 108 runs courtesy of a brilliant team performance. Sianna Ginger scored valuable 30 runs and Kate Pelle notched up 27 runs during her brief stay on the crease. Rismi Sanjana (2/30) and Dewmi Vihanga (1/21) of Sri Lanka made significant breakthroughs in the middle overs, but they were unable to completely halt Australia's scoring rate.

Amy Smith’s later counterattack along with Lucy Hamilton led to an aggressive assault that propelled Australia to a score of 159/5.

Australia managed to pick up three crucial wickets in the powerplay itself and then made light work of Sri Lanka's middle and lower order batters. Early on, Maggie Clark displayed excellent control with the ball, bowling two maidens and claimed two scalps in her first spell. Australia used seven bowlers and each succeeded in taking at least one wicket as Australia won by 108 runs. 

In the other game, Bangladesh got the better of the USA and finished at the top of the table.

USA were prepared to put in a lot of effort on a slow pitch in search of a good score after failing to reach 100 in their first two games. With USA scoring 103/4 in their allotted number of overs, they were able to pass that milestone thanks to their cautious approach. Disha Biswas and Marufa Akter were magnificent with the ball for Bangladesh.

During the chase, Afia Prottasha and Sumaiya Akter lost their wickets in the first five overs and the team didn't get off to the best of starts. Then Shorna Akter and Dilara Akter launched an assault, but the USA continued to retaliate.

After 9.5 overs, Bangladesh were 64/4, having lost the two batters before the interval. However, Bangladesh reached the target with five wickets and 15 balls to spare despite the USA's valiant efforts until the very end.

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