Bangladesh weren’t at their best against Australia in the do-or-die Women’s World Cup clash and despite all the fielding mishaps and dropped catches, they were able to score just 198 runs in their stipulated 50 overs after choosing to bat first in Visakhapatnam on Thursday. A few batters got starts, but it was just Sobhana Mostary, who ended up with a sizeable score, smashing her second half-century of the tournament and stayed unbeaten on 66, providing some respectability to the total.
There was a contribution of 44 from Rubya Haider at the top, but it was Mostary’s flurry of boundaries in the final 10 overs that made it possible for Bangladesh to get close to 200. Mostary became the first Bangladeshi woman to score a fifty in ODIs against Australia. Mostary bettered Rubya Haider’s score, which was the second-highest after Lata Mondal’s 33 three years ago in Wellington.
Bangladesh skipper Nigar Sultana Joty has a couple of fifties to her name in T20Is against Australia, but no one had crossed the 50-mark in 50-over games before Thursday.
Highest individual score for Bangladesh against Australia in Women’s ODIs
66* (80) – Sobhana Mostary – Visakhapatnam, 2025
44 (59) – Rubya Haider – Visakhapatnam, 2025
33 (63) – Lata Mondal – Wellington, 2022
The 23-year-old Mostary, since coming into bat at 84/3, stitched crucial partnerships throughout the batting line-up to push Bangladesh’s score to 198. Australia conceded as many as 28 extras, while dropping several catches as the defending champions weren’t at their best in the field but were still able to restrict Bangladesh to a chaseable score.
Australia came into the Thursday encounter unbeaten and will likely continue their run on Thursday as well, even though Alyssa Healy and Co are yet to play a perfect game.
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