Australia v Bangladesh Women’s T20 World Cup Report Card

Featuring needless cruelty and Banglademolishments

Needless Cruelty
Grade: D+

As mentioned in other report cards, this was the second match to start in a Big Night of Coinciding Sport™, the women playing Bangladesh in a T20 at the same time as the men.

FUN FACT: No Australian cricket team has ever played any nation other than Bangladesh

Sophie Molineux won the toss and elected to bowl first, which felt needlessly cruel on Bangladesh fans. They were in the process of watching their men collapse batting first against Australia. Did they really need to watch the women do so, too?

Still, perhaps the Bangladesh women would succeed where their men could not. Perhaps they would view batting first as an opportunity to set a formidable target and put the pressure back on their fearsome opponents. Perhaps they would counter the Australian attack and set a—

Oh, they’re 5/27.

Banglademolishments
Grade: D+

It wasn’t just 5/27 either. It was 5/27, with Ellyse Perry at the bowling crease, having taken two wickets in her first over. Horrid behaviour from Pez. Still, if that wasn’t going to inspire New South Wales to a stirring State of Origin victory, it was hard to see what would. (Spoiler: it didn’t, and it is.)

But just when we thought the women might reciprocate the men’s chivalry in timing their innings break for when the other’s began, Bangladesh suddenly stopped losing wickets. Or, at least, quite as many so quickly.

Unfortunately, they mostly stopped scoring runs too, spluttering their way to 8/77 from their twenty overs. Australia then ran that down in 9.3 overs (although don’t think I didn’t notice you getting out, Beth Mooney) to seal a comfortable victory. An utter Banglademolishment.