Australia could hardly have begun better. Put in to bat, they lost both openers inside four overs, with Georgia Voll out for a duck on World Cup debut and Beth Mooney gone for 3. Phoebe Litchfield then hit a 23-ball fifty and was out for exactly 50, Ellyse Perry made 36, Georgia Wareham 26 and Annabel Sutherland 13 at the death to reach 172/8.
The bowlers sealed it. Wareham took 3/13, Sophie Molineux 2/17 and Alana King 2/26, and only Laura Wolvaardt’s 44 stood out as South Africa were bowled out for 107. With Grace Harris and Ashleigh Gardner in the batting order and Kim Garth and Megan Schutt providing pace, Australia look balanced under Molineux.
Bangladesh began with a six-wicket win over the Netherlands, chasing 140 in 19.1 overs. Juairiya Ferdous made a 33-ball fifty, Sharmin Akhter finished unbeaten on 37 off 32 and captain Nigar Sultana has 322 runs in her last ten matches at 46. Marufa Akter has 11 wickets in nine T20Is, backed by Ritu Moni, Rabeya Khan and Fariha Trisna, but they will need top-class execution against Australia.
