Sutherland, King and Gardner put Australia 1-0 up after comfortable win
Written by I Dig SportsAustralia 213 for 7 (Sutherland 58*, King 46*, Nahida 2-27, Khatun 2-45) beat Bangladesh 95 (Nigar 27, Gardner 3-22, Garth 2-26) by 118 runs
But it is 22-year-old Sutherland who is continuing to produce for Australia. The allrounder hit her maiden Test century batting at No. 8 for Australia in last year's Ashes, and backed it up with a double against South Africa in Perth last month.
She was more measured on Thursday, after Beth Mooney and Gardner began to steady the game for Australia. Sutherland hit 19 from her first 35 balls, before upping the ante late alongside King, who pulled and swept legspinner Fahima Khatun over the rope four times in the final over.
"Annabel batted really well, along with Beth Mooney and Ash Gardner," King said afterwards. "They set the foundation... It was just a bit of fun in the last over. We were looking at getting over 200 and Annabel gave me free rein. We could go for as many runs as possible and I am glad I connected with a few."
And after Megan Schutt struck with the second ball of Bangladesh's innings, King kept control with the ball with 1 for 12 from her ten overs. She also claimed the key wicket of opener Sobhana Mostary for 17, when she bowled the right-hand batter sweeping.
A trio of run-outs then ensured Australia would not suffer a shock loss. Litchfield's effort to remove Fahima was the pick of them, diving to her right at cover to produce a direct hit and remove the batter for one.