Sutherland scored a steady half-century to rescue Australia in the 1st ODI

1st ODI - March 21

Alana King and Annabel Sutherland rescued Australia to a respectable score before a disciplined bowling effort from the visitors saw Bangladesh slump to a massive 118-run defeat in the opening ODI of the three-match series.

Sultana Khatun picked up two early wickets as Australia slipped to 48/4 in the 19th over, following a slow start in their maiden bilateral visit to Bangladesh. The hosts still kept striking at regular intervals to break every brewing partnership as the visitors huffed and puffed their way to a modest 146/7 in the 41st over when King arrived at the crease.

She provided the impetus right away, hitting five sixes and couple of boundaries more in her 31-ball cameo worth 46*, adding a valuable 67-run stand with half-centurion Sutherland (58* off 76) that helped Australia to a 213 from their allotted overs.

Bangladesh too lost a couple of top-order wickets early but had recovered sufficiently well at 70/2 before a dramatic collapse ensued. Gardner picked up three, Kim Garth returned two and there were as many as three run-outs as Bangladesh lost eight wickets for just 25 runs to concede the two ICC Women's ODI Championship points to the reigning champions.

Brief scores: Australia 213/7 in 50 overs (Annabel Sutherland 58*, Alana King 46*; Nahida Akhter 2-27) beat Bangladesh 95 all out in 36 overs (Nigar Sultana 27; Ash Gardner 3-22, Kim Garth 2-26) by 118 runs