Defending champions Australia beat Bangladesh by eight wickets to move a step closer to the semi-finals of the Women’s T20 World Cup.
Chasing 108 at Gqeberha, they won with 10 balls to spare, captain Meg Lanning hitting an unbeaten 48 after opener Alyssa Healy made 37.
Bangladesh made 107-7 with Nigar Sultana Joti scoring 57, while the returning Georgia Wareham claimed 3-20.
Australia top Group 1 while Bangladesh are fourth after two losses.
Lanning’s side were strong in the field and managed to restrict Bangladesh when pacer Darcy Brown caught opener Shamima Sultana before bowling her through the gate.
Joty put on a 31-run stand with Sobhana Mostri before Wareham, who was returning to international cricket after 16 months out with a knee injury, was later caught at midwicket.
Sharna Akhtar then scored 12 off 27 balls to slow any momentum in Bangladesh’s innings, despite Joty attacking the ball for more than a run at the other end.
Sharna had the second-highest score of 12 innings and kept Bangladesh well short of a match-winning score against Australia’s fearsome batting line-up.
The teenage starlet had Beth Mooney caught at slip in the third over, before Lanning hit her fourth ball just short of slip.
From there, Lanning and Healy put on 69 runs for the second wicket to control the chase, before Healy was caught by Shaurna.
It was a tough chase from Australia, who scored largely in singles, hitting just four fours in the last 11.3 overs of the chase.
They comfortably crossed the line with Lanning and Ash Gardner, who sold a joint-record £320,000 for a foreign player at Monday’s Women’s Premier League auction, sharing 33.
Australia will play their next match against Sri Lanka on Thursday while Bangladesh will face New Zealand on Friday.
