Key events
6th over: Bangladesh 22-3, (Mostary 4, Nigar 1)
Garth bowls her third over on the trot, with Australia hoping to keep the wickets coming. It’s Alana King this time with a throw at the stumps, but the Bangladesh batters are quick enough to make their ground. It’s looking like a tidy over from Garth, but Mostary flicks one nicely around the corner to get off the mark with a boundary.
5th over: Bangladesh 17-3, (Mostary 0, Nigar 0)
Molineux comes into the attack for the first time, bowling to her fellow captain Nigar. She hits the pads first ball and the umpire puts her finger up, but Nigar is quick to review and it’s a good decision, as ball tracking reveals the ball is missing the stumps. But she makes up for it with a genuine wicket late in the over.
WICKET! Sharmin lbw Molineux 5 (Bangladesh 17-3)
Molineux quickly gets over the disappointment of having a wicket overturned early in the over, by taking one that Bangladesh don’t review – Australia is making things happen early.
4th over: Bangladesh 16-2, (Ferdous 8, Nigar 0)
The wicket taker is back, with Garth bowling her second over. Sutherland gets another shot at a direct hit run out, but again her throw is wide. And again Garth takes a wicket next ball. I guess this is the way to get Garth fired up – miss run outs and force her to take matters into her own hands? She loses her line late in the over with a marginal legside wide, but finishes the over with another great delivery.
WICKET! Ferdous lbw Garth 8 (Bangladesh 15-2)
Garth keeps the stumps in play and Ferdous can’t get her bat to the ball, beaten by pace as she’s rapped squarely on the pads and doesn’t even look like reviewing.
3rd over: Bangladesh 14-1, (Ferdous 8, Sharmin 4)
Schutt is back for her second over and she starts with a wide, then tidies up her line, then bowls another wide. Next she bowls a rank full toss, but Sharmin is too surprised by it to take advantage and Schutt gets away with a dot. Ferdous skies one from the final ball of the over, but it lands safely and bounces over the rope for the first boundary of the match!
2nd over: Bangladesh 7-1, (Ferdous 4, Dilara 3)
Garth opens the bowling for Australia from the other end and she has a slip in play early. There’s a chance of a run out on the second ball and it would have been well out with a direct hit, but Sutherland’s throw is wide. But next ball, Garth removes Dilara. Sharmin has intent straight away when she comes in – she gets off the mark with a well-played two and follows it up with a single.
WICKET! Dilara b Garth 0 (Bangladesh 4-1)
It doesn’t take long for Garth to strike – she bowls a nice inswinger and Dilara plays all around it and has her stumps taken out.
1st over: Bangladesh 3-0, (Ferdous 3, Dilara 0)
Schutt takes the new ball for Australia, as she has done so often in the past. She starts with a dot, before Ferdous plays a shot that sounds lovely off the bat and finds a gap, but it’s cut off before the boundary and it’s just a two in the end. Schutt finds some movement in the pitch late in the over – it’s a good over from her.
The Bangladesh opening pair of Dilara Akter Dola and Juairiya Ferdous are out in the middle now and we’re ready to begin!
The teams are on the field now for the national anthems – not long to go until the first ball is bowled!
Of course there is a lot of sport going on across the world at the moment and I won’t be offended if you multiscreen to catch all the action. We’ve got a few other live blogs going at the moment, so get them all set up in the right windows before we get underway here.
Ooh an email! Thanks to Dean Kinsella who wrote in to reiterate that we’re definitely following the superior World Cup.
“It’s a no-brainer to be following this world cup rather than the orange tinted one across the water. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the cricket thus far. I think the Aussies are going to be hard to beat judging by the way the Saffers were dispatched.”
Let’s see how Dean’s prediction pans out – things may be tougher for the Australians now with these injury concerns, but they do have a lot of depth in their squad. I think most teams would be pretty happy to have a Grace Harris and a Megan Schutt up their sleeves to bring in after injury.
The big news out of the Australian camp is that Ash Gardner and Phoebe Litchfield have both been ruled out due to injury. Here’s the official word from the team media manager:
Phoebe Litchfield suffered an acute quad injury while batting against South Africa. She is expected to miss Australia’s next three matches. This is a new injury.
Ashleigh Gardner is also unavailable for selection following an acute ankle inversion injury (sprain).
Bangladesh XI
1. Dilara Akter Dola
2. Juairiya Ferdous
3. Sharmin Akter Supta
4. Nigar Sultana Joty (c) (wk)
5. Sobhana Mostary
6. Shorna Akter
7. Ritu Moni
8. Nahida Akter
9. Rabeya Khan
10. Sultana Khatun
11. Marufa Akter
Australia XI
1. Beth Mooney (wk)
2. Georgia Voll
3. Ellyse Perry
4. Grace Harris
5. Georgia Wareham
6. Nicola Carey
7. Annabel Sutherland
8. Sophie Molineux (c)
9. Kim Garth
10. Alana King
11. Megan Schutt
Australia win the toss and choose to bowl
Sophie Molineux doesn’t hesitate at all to elect to field when the coin lands. After batting first in their last game, it’s not surprising they want an opportunity to chase. Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana reveals she would have chosen to bat anyway, so it’s win-win!
The coverage has started and while there are some clouds in the sky, it looks mostly sunny, so that’s good news!
You can also read about some English woes if you’re that way inclined – captain Nat Sciver-Brunt had to retire hurt in yesterday’s less-than-comprehensive win over Ireland and they’re now waiting to see how the rest of the tournament will shape up for her.
While we wait for the toss, why not keep yourself entertained with this great preview piece on Australia’s approach to this World Cup from my colleague Martin Pegan?
Today’s match is at Headingley and while it looks like there may be a little rain on the Met Office radar passing over Leeds at the moment, it should clear fairly quickly. Let’s hope it doesn’t delay the start of play!
Preamble
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Megan Maurice
Hello! It seems the whole world has come down with a serious case of World Cup fever and I’m certainly glad you’ve chosen this World Cup to follow along with me. Tonight we have Australia v Bangladesh, with both teams coming off wins in their opening games. Australia spun a web to take a comprehensive 65-wicket win over South Africa, while Bangladesh beat the Netherlands by six wickets thanks to a solid 50 from opener Juairiya Ferdous.
While Australia are certainly favourites for this match, I wouldn’t write off Bangaldesh, especially with their tails up following a good win. There’s plenty to discuss, so let’s get into it. Don’t forget if you have any thoughts on the match, you can drop me an email – I’d love to hear from you!
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/live/2026/jun/17/australia-v-bangladesh-womens-t20-world-cup-2026-cricket-live
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