Bangladesh Women captain Nigar Sultana admitted that they were 30-40 runs short against Australia in the 25th match of the ongoing ICC Women World Cup after they lost by five wickets at Basin Reserve, Wellington on Friday.

Sultana was happy with the team’s bowling performance as they took five Australian wickets and were able to put pressure on the opposition.

Bangladesh could only manage 136-5 in 43 overs after Meg Lanning won the toss and decided to bowl first. However, Bangladesh bowlers were able to breathe down the neck of the Australian batters. Australia got off to a horrid start as they were reduced to 26-3 inside the 10 overs and were put under the cosh.

Salma Khatun was the pick of the Bangladesh bowlers as she scalped three wickets and conceded only 23 runs in her nine overs.

Nigar Sultana said in the post-match presentation, “We could give Australia a tough time in the middle, all credit goes to the bowlers and even the fielders. We need to work on our batting. We were 30-40 runs short. Salma bowled really well and kept exerting the pressure on Australia. I told the team that if we bowled well, we could give them a tough time. We couldn’t see the ball properly as it was dark, it was difficult. We could take a lot of positives from here and implement in the England game.”

On the other hand, Beth Mooney played a match-winning knock for Australia as she scored 66 runs off just 75 balls to take her team over the line. Thus, she was awarded the Player of the Match for her fine batting show.

Mooney said after the game, “As a leftie, we knew they had a lot of spinners. We had Intel about how effective their spinners can be. I and Rachel talk about a lot of challenges batting at number 4 or 5. I am lucky to be playing for an elite team like Australia. She is an intelligent cricketer. Sutherland has the skill set to play for as long as she wants to.”

Bangladesh Women will play their last match of the tournament against England Women at the same venue of Basin Reserve, Wellington on Sunday.