Bangladesh Women rely on bowling for ODI success against Australia

Nigar Sultana’s trust in the bowling department follows their recent success

Bangladesh Women are looking to capitalise on their formidable bowling attack to get the better of Australia in the upcoming three-match One-Day International home series.

“They [Australia] rely a lot on 4-5 batters. Our target will be to dismantle that place of their strength as quickly as possible. And I must say we are the best in bowling,” captain Nigar Sultana said at a press conference on Wednesday ahead of the series.

Beginning Thursday at Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka, Bangladesh will lock their horns in the series against Australia – a part of the ICC Women's Championship. Australia will stay on to feature in a three-match T20I series.

“The bowlers performed well in big venues, including [in Mirpur]. In that way, I’m very much confident,” Nigar said.

Her Australian counterpart Alyssa Healy agreed with Nigar. "I think if you look at their squad as a whole, they possess a lot of skill within their bowling attack. I think a lot of spin which is quite noticeable, a real challenge for teams not from the subcontinent," Healy said.

"Watching a little bit of the series they played recently against India in these conditions, they made it really challenging for that Indian batting line-up.

"I think Bangladesh poses a real threat to a lot of teams within the ODI Women's Championship in particular. They have fought their way into it and they've got the opportunity now to play against the top nations in the world, which I think is a great thing for our sport."

Nigar’s dependance on the bowling department follows recent success of Nahida Akter, Marufa Akter and Rabeya Khan who have done a great job in defending the totals scored by their batters.

Nahida, the experienced left-arm spinner bagged 20 wickets from 11 ODIs in 2023 while she was named in the ICC's best ODI squad of the year.

Leg-spinner Rabeya took 14 wickets from nine matches.

Marufa, who played most of the game as the lone seamer, took 14 wickets from nine matches.

The other spinners, Sultana Khatun and Fahima, had been effective with bowling when the team needed.

Now they face the big challenge against big names like Healy, Ellyse Perry and Beth Mooney. All three of them are in the top ten of the ICC ranking of batters now.

Ashleigh Gardner, Phoebe Litchfield, Tahlia McGrath and Annabelle Sutherland all are in good rhythm as well.