Joty won the toss and decided to bat. At once a greater sense of urgency seemed to animate the women at the crease. They were helped by an untidy efort in the field from Australia. Six catches went down: mostly very difficult ones, but still. Many other strokes just eluded grasping hands. Jhelik prospered, hitting out brightly. At 1/73 in the 18th over things were looking up. But the Australian bowling tightened its grip, and the flow of runs dried up. The crucial spell was from Alana King, whose ten-over spell produced 2/18. The pitch had been pronounced ideal for batting; but King extracted considerable turn from the somnolent surface, as did Wareham later on.
The innings finished at 9/198, which was considerably more than Australia had counted on with the steady fall of wickets. But Sobhana Mostary kept her head amid the carnage, and found an ideal partner in Farhia Trisna at no.11. She made only one run off four balls, but her frenetic running between wickets allowed Mostary to pick up twos where only ones looked likely. She was left unbeaten on an excellent 66, and their partnership of 33 off 25 was the second highest of the innings. For Australia, Sutherland, King, Wareham and Gardner all picked up two wickets, and Schutt removed the opener Pinky in a tidy five-over spell. The third top score was Ms Extras, with 28. With the Bangla spin attack being their strength, Australia had work to do.
Or so it seemed. The camera kept cutting to Ellyse Perry in her pads, gloves and helmet, assiduously practising strokeplay; but she was not needed. Neither was anybody else. Healy and Litchfield polished off the runs without fuss, and in a mere 25 overs. The pitch had settled down, certainly, and batting had become easier than before. Both batsmen used their feet to excellent effect against the spinners, and they treated the gentle mediums with disdain. Healy offered but the one chance, and Litchfield none at all. The latter finished on 84; and the Aussie captain, shrugging off a day to forget behind the stumps, blitzed her way to her second century in a row. We hope the Bangla women are not too disheartened by this horror show. Rather should they concentrate on their three previous matches, in which they beat Pakistan, and gave both England and South Africa an almighty scare. Tonight it all went pear-shaped for them. Australia face England and South Africa in their final games, secure in the knowledge that they have already qualified for the semi-finals.