Sobhana hopes Australia lessons help in New Zealand and West Indies despite whitewash

Sobhana Mostary says Bangladesh will carry lessons from their 3-0 ODI whitewash in Australia into upcoming matches in New Zealand and the West Indies.

The batter spoke on Friday, after the women’s team returned home having been outplayed by the world champions.

Reflecting on the series, Sobhana said: “They are the world champions, we all know that. Playing against them was not easy. It was not just my century; different players contributed on different days. First Ritu Moni, then Joty, Sobhana and Swarna.”

Sobhana also regretted the batters’ failure to turn starts into bigger scores.

“Perhaps we could not set a very good target for the bowlers. Still, it was good for me as a second experience. I think if we could have scored 250-300 runs, it might have made things a little easier for the bowlers.”

However, she is optimistic the tour will pay off.

“I think, since we were able to compete against such a good team, we will be able to use this experience in our upcoming matches in New Zealand and then the West Indies.”

The tour followed failures at the Asia Cup and Asian Games, and Nigar Sultana Joty’s side never made a contest of any of the three matches. Ritu Moni’s 45 off 63 balls in the first ODI was among the few early positives.

The high point came in Brisbane on Sunday, October 11. Sobhana made 118, the highest ODI score by a Bangladeshi batter, and added 195 with Joty, who made 74, a Bangladesh record for any wicket, after the side had slipped to 8 for three.

Sharmin Akter Supta and Swarna Akter both made fifties in the third ODI, but the batting still fell short of what was needed to challenge the hosts across the three matches.

Three players moved up in the ICC women’s ODI rankings published on Tuesday. Sobhana climbed 11 places to joint 35th, equalling her career best, Joty rose 11 to joint 24th, and Ritu Moni gained 10 to reach 78th.

Bangladesh have little time to rest. Joty and Sobhana will fly to Thailand in the second week of November for the ICC Women’s Emerging Nations Trophy, where Bangladesh are in Group B with Pakistan, Zimbabwe, the Netherlands and Thailand.

A tour of New Zealand follows in the first week of December, comprising three ODIs and three T20Is, with the West Indies to come after that.