On October 9, 2026, Australia Women took an easy seven-wicket win over Bangladesh Women in the opening match of a three-match ODI series at Allan Border Field in Brisbane. With the ball, Annabel Sutherland had a return of 4-wickets while Phoebe Litchfield smashed an explosive innings of 77 runs to help Australia achieve the target comfortably. Chasing 167, Australia raced to victory with a 168-3 in just 25.4 overs that gave the visitors a lead of 1-0 in the three-match series after Bangladesh had been bowled out for only 166.
Bangladesh capped a first-round exit with an abject showing in their Super Eights opener against Australia, after winning the toss and batting. After Megan Schutt took the first wicket of the match with her very first ball, getting Fargana Hoque out leg before in her initial delivery, she continued to pick up more wickets by removing Sarmin Sultana leg before a couple of overs later. Schutt’s second wicket was another milestone in her career, making her the third Australian woman to take 150 wickets in ODI cricket.
Bangladesh’s woes increased further when Annabel Sutherland got the breakthrough with a short ball to dismiss Sharmin Akhter. Bangladesh lost three wickets during the first powerplay and soon slumped to 48 for 4 with little help for the visitors in rebuilding their innings
Captain Nigar Sultana tried to bring the situation back on track but there was no free scoring against the disciplined bowling of Australia. She mustered 29 runs in 83 balls while Shorna Akter also took her time during the middle overs. Bangladesh went nowhere with the strike rotation as they kept languishing much below the asking rate.
The highest run-getter for Bangladesh was Ritu Moni with 45 runs from 63 balls. She started batting at the No. 7 slot and ensured that a little of aggression was injectedMoni was in line to score her second ODI fifty but suffered cramps and was less mobile within the crease. Bangladesh lost their best opportunity to possibly create a very imposing total when she was eventually run out. Sutherland followed on to vex the lower order with her variations, taking 4 for 30 overall. Bangladesh were bowled out for 166 as Schutt backed her with two for 19.
Australia got off to a great start in their chase with Georgia Voll and Litchfield swinging from the start. They then hit five boundaries in the first five overs, as Bangladesh were quickly forced on to the back foot. Former cricketer Shahid Afridi’s daughter, 17-year-old Habiba Islam made some resistance on her ODI debut when she speared the Voll with a sharp bouncer.
Habiba next accounted for Beth Mooney when Fargana Hoque took a superb catch at midwicket. Although the conditions were extremely tough for batting, the young fast bowler found pace and movement to get Sohana a couple of crucial breakthroughs.
in the innings, effectively playing her shots against Australian spinners as well. After a long wait, Bangladesh kept the scoreboard ticking due to her sweep shot.
However, Litchfield shouldered the chase. She hit three boundaries in a row against Marufa Akter before including the only six of the match when she flayed one from Habiba over mid-on. She played similarly assertive strokes along with some innovative shots to flaunt a fine half-century off just 35 deliveries.
Australia were then propelled towards victory by a partnership between Litchfield and Ellyse Perry. Litchfield was the dominant force in the 89-run second wicket partnership off 67 deliveries. Perry made 15 off 23 balls but her partner maintained a terrific run rate,
Litchfield soon left for 77, reaching out to drive Rabeya Khan only to hit straight to the cover field. It was well past this point that Australia needed hardly any more runs to win, and the last few batters finished off the chase with ease.
Chasing 171 runs to win, Australia were at 168/3 in 25.4 overs to win by seven wickets with 24.2 overs remaining in the innings. It extended Australia’s unbeaten run in women’s ODIs at Allan Border Field to 22 matches.
Moni’s innings and Habiba’s two wickets were the rare positives for Bangladesh from their opening match. But their disintegration in the top-order and cautious scoring during the middle-overs cost them. Bangladesh require a solid performance with the bat and better partnerships in their next game, if they are to trouble the hosts.
On the other hand Sutherland’s statistics and Litchfield’s aggressive batting will give Australia with some confidence going into the second match of this three-match ODI series.
