BAN-W vs AUS-W, 3rd ODI Review: Australia demolish Bangladesh to complete series sweep

Australia Women won the third and final ODI against Bangladesh Women in the three-match ODI series by a margin of eight wickets on Wednesday, 27th March 2024, played at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka, whitewashing the hosts by winning the series 3-0.

Winning her first toss of the series, Australia's skipper Alyssa Healy opted to field first. 

Kim Garth returned to the playing XI and opened the bowling for the Aussies, after featuring in the first ODI of the series played on March 21, in place of Megan Schutt who was rested keeping her workload in mind. The first over was bowled to Bangladeshi opener Fargana Hoque on strike, with her playing out a maiden. The inaugural wicket came on the tenth ball of the match, with Sumaiya Akter going for a slog over the infield, only to find Grace Harris at wide mid-off off the bowling of Ellyse Perry, with Bangladesh still not opening their account with the bat. 

The first boundary for Bangladesh came off an outside edge of Fargana's bat off Garth, which went in the void between second-slip and fourth-slip off to the vacant third-man fence, with those being Garth's first runs conceded after bowling a total of eight dot balls previously. Shortly after, Garth scalped her first wicket of the match with Phoebe Litchfield grabbing an absolute blinder at first slip off a beautifully-shaped outswinger.

The third wicket of the Bangladeshi innings was in the name of Perry, with left-handed Murshida Khatun going for an uppish cover drive, only to nick it through to the keeper. Post Ritu Moni's dismissal with her spooning an absolute sitter to Perry at silly mid-off and Fahima Khatun bagging a silver duck a couple of balls later, Bangladesh were in all sorts of trouble with the score reading 32/5 at the end of 11 overs. 

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Bangladesh's skipper, Nigar Sultana, and Shorna Akter tried their best to stick around and struck a 39-ball-21-run partnership before the skipper fell prey to left-arm orthodox Sophie Molineux, with the ball deviating viciously off the strip, to kiss the gloves of Sultana before going into the gloves of Healy.

Notably, the final-wicket partnership between Sultana Khatun and Marufa Akter, who came in at No. 10 and No. 11, respectively, was the highest for the home team, with them putting on 26 off 22. 

The bulk of Bangladesh's total was bolstered by 20 extras, with 14 wides being the major contributor, highlighting a recurring issue for the Australian bowlers, who gifted 63 runs across the three ODIs, amounting to 22.5% of Bangladesh's total runs scored in the series.

Coming to the chase, Australia needed only 90 to chase down. Bangladesh's opening pair with respect to bowling was right-arm off-spinner Sultana and left-arm spinner Nahida Akter.

Litchfield was quite reserved with her approach with Healy being the aggressor, stroking boundaries with utmost ease. The opening stand lasted for 57 deliveries and 43 runs, with the Aussies losing Litchfield to a return catch taken by Sultana, a delivery after getting hit for a boundary. Skipper Healy was the second batter to be dismissed, with leggie Rabeya trapping her in front with the ball purchasing a considerable amount of drift, with Healy looking visibly frustrated for playing down the wrong line of the ball. 

Perry and Beth Mooney stroked their way to a comfortable win for the Aussies, with the former scoring 27* (28) and 21* (22) being the score of the latter, laced with four and three boundaries, respectively. The duo put on an unbeaten 39-run stand to take Australia home, granting them the series by a dominating margin of 3-0. The winning shot was courtesy of Perry's flick to the midwicket boundary off Marufa, winning her team the match in only 18.3 overs. 

None of the Bangladeshi bowlers could make a consequential impact, with them managing to pick up only 13 wickets in the entire series.

The clean sweep signified Australia securing all six ICC Women's Championship points which were up for grabs.

Garth and Gardener awarded POTM and POTS awards

Courtesy of her bowling display in the third ODI with figures of 7-4-11-3, Garth earned the Player of the Match award, with all-rounder Gardner winning the Player of the Series award, owing to her holistic showing with bat and ball, for scoring 52 runs and securing eight wickets spanning the course of the three-match ODI series.

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