Beth Mooney battled inclement weather and fading light to guide Australia to a five-wicket win over Bangladesh, to ensure it finished the group stage of the Women's Cricket World Cup with an unbeaten record.
Mooney made 66 not out and combined in an unbroken, 65-run partnership with Annabel Sutherland (26 not out) to ensure Australia reached its winning target with 65 balls to spare.
The match at Wellington's Basin Reserve began late because of rain and was reduced to 43 overs per side.
It was played in a southerly gale so strong — with gusts topping 100 kilometres per hour — that the umpires had to dispense with the bails after the 11th over of the first innings.
The players clung to their caps and shivered in the outfield as the temperature dropped to around 10 degrees Celsius.
Batters were knocked off balance and fast bowlers lost their run-ups, as they were blown through the crease with the wind at their backs.
Only one group of players flourished in the conditions: Spin bowlers had a field day. Tossed up or bowled flat into the breeze, the ball drifted and dropped and batters sometimes were at a loss to time their shots.
Ashleigh Gardner (2-23) and Jess Jonassen (2-13) shared four wickets to help Australia restrict Bangladesh to 6-135, after winning the toss.
The target of 136 took on greater dimensions when Bangladeshi off-spinner Salma Khatun removed the cream of Australia's batting within the first 10 overs.
Khatun dismissed openers Alyssa Healey (15) and Rachael Haynes (7) and then captain Meg Lanning for an eight-ball duck.
Australia was 3-26, then 4-41 when Thalia McGrath (3) fell to Nahida Akter.
Sutherland joined Mooney with the total at 5-70. The pair showed the resilience and adaptability of the Australian team to ensure it completed its seventh consecutive victory at the tournament.
"It was really tough to see the ball at the end there," Mooney said.
"We certainly wouldn't have been bowling [fast bowlers] if we had been out there. It was really tough conditions."
AP/ABC
