Australia's Beth Mooney heaped praise on the "crafty" Bangladeshi attack, led by the "super impressive" Salma Khatun. This was after Khatun threatened to orchestrate an unlikely upset against title favourites Australia in a World Cup league fixture on Friday.
Mooney made an unbeaten 66 to dig her side out from a precarious 70 for 5 in their chase of 136 in a truncated 43-overs-a-side clash. She acknowledged that the clinical approach of offspinner Khatun and the other Bangladeshi spinners made batting difficult for the vaunted Australian line-up at the windswept Basin Reserve in Wellington.
"She was super impressive today," Mooney said about Khatun, who wiped out Australia's top order comprising Alyssa Healy, Meg Lanning, and Rachael Haynes during her performance of 9-0-3-23 . "Obviously, she took three poles up front, so whenever someone new came out, I sort of just said she was the main threat that we had to nullify."
Khatun, the former captain, opened the bowling with medium-pacer Jahanara Alam. First, she had Healy caught at deep square leg. Then Lanning was bowled for an eight-ball duck, before Haynes holed out to mid-off during her unbroken seven-over opening spell. The top-order collapse saw Australia, who made short work of two 270-plus chases heading into Friday's fixture, reeling at 26 for 3 in 9.2 overs.
"She's a crafty spinner, got a lot of changes and can really settle on a length which is probably what we let her do a little bit today - settle on us a little bit more than we would normally, with that wind playing a factor as well," Mooney said. "She's extremely crafty. And she bowled really well today, so it's no surprise to me that she's been a very successful player for Bangladesh."
Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana echoed Mooney in her appreciation for Khatun's impressive showing. "Salma bowled really well today," Sultana said. "It was her show actually, trying to keep the pressure on the Aussie batters, so I'm really proud of her."
While wickets kept tumbling around her, second-drop Mooney took it upon herself to wrest control from the opposition attack with the calm approach that has underpinned her many rescue acts for Australia. She said staying calm was particularly important amid a swell of energy and competitiveness the Bangladeshis had, which resulted in five quick wickets.
"I think just taking the sting out of… obviously Bangladesh being pretty highly emotional at that point, having taken two or three wickets in a row," Mooney said. "We know that sort of... what teams get like when they're on a roll and they're taking a few wickets. They ride on that emotion a little bit."
"So, I sort of just knew that we needed to build a partnership somewhere along the way to take the sting out of that a little bit, and come home strong, but obviously, we lost a couple more wickets than we would have liked but I thought Belsy (Annabel Sutherland) came out and played a really mature innings."
Asked if Australia, who head into the semi-finals with an all-win record from their seven league-stage outings, had anticipated a challenge so stiff from a side they had never previously faced in the format, Mooney said, "We talk about it within our group that when teams come up against us, they find another level and we have to always try and match that.
"Obviously, Bangladesh had us under a lot of pressure early in that batting innings with how well they bowled and the fields that they set as well. They're really crafty bowlers, they know what they're doing and know how to put us under the pump."
Having run several other teams close in this World Cup, and even won a game against Pakistan, Mooney said Bangladesh will only get better as they get more game time, especially through the 2022-2025 ICC Women's ODI Championship.
"They, hopefully, are going to play a lot more cricket in the next World Cup cycle leading into the next edition in 2025," Mooney said. "So, it would be just about learning and making sure whatever situation you're in, that you learn from it and enjoy it. These experiences don't last forever and you're a long time retired. So just the opportunity to be out there running around - you can't say no to."
Mooney also underlined the difficulty Australia faced in overcast, windy conditions could help them prepare better for the knockouts, should they play their semi-final in Wellington next week.
"Obviously, we're not sure if we're going to play the semi-final here in Wellington or in Christchurch, so we could be thrown in those conditions again," Mooney said. "If we do play the semi-final here and obviously, with the late start as well, and not losing too many overs, with no lights being here in Wellington, it can make for quite a dark second innings once we're out there.
"So, to be put under some pressure and playing those conditions and be able to learn from it and have that kind of pressure thrown out at us leading into the semi-final is absolutely critical for this group."
Annesha Ghosh is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo. @ghosh_annesha
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