Bangladesh Women’s captain Nigar Sultana Joty believes her team gained valuable experience and confidence from their historic first bilateral ODI tour of Australia, despite suffering a 3-0 series defeat.
The visitors lost all three matches played between October 9 and 14, 2026, but several individual performances provided encouragement for the future.
Sobhana Mostary’s record-breaking century, contributions from Sharmin Akhter and Shorna Akter, and promising displays by young pace bowlers were among the positives highlighted by the Bangladesh skipper.
“Each and every game, one of the players came up for the team, and we have taken a lot of positives from here and will implement them in the future. We will take a lot of learnings from this series,” Joty said.
Australia Complete 3-0 ODI Series Sweep
Bangladesh concluded their tour with an eight-wicket defeat in the third ODI at Allan Border Field in Brisbane on October 14. Batting first, the visitors were dismissed for 172 in 49.5 overs despite half-centuries from Sharmin Akhter and Shorna Akter.
Sharmin scored 50 from 93 deliveries, while Shorna contributed 54 from 71 balls to help Bangladesh recover from early setbacks.
Australia comfortably chased the target, reaching 175/2 in 22.4 overs to complete the series sweep. Although the results reflected Australia’s superiority, Joty believes Bangladesh can use the experience to improve their performances against stronger international opponents.
Sobhana Mostary Creates History Against Australia
One of Bangladesh’s biggest achievements during the tour came in the second ODI, when Sobhana Mostary produced a remarkable century. The middle-order batter scored 118 from 134 deliveries, including 18 boundaries, after Bangladesh had collapsed to 8/3.
Her innings established several national records and helped Bangladesh recover to 220/6, their highest ODI total against Australia.
Mostary became the first Bangladesh woman to score an ODI century against Australia and the first to achieve the milestone on Australian soil. Her 118 also surpassed Fargana Hoque’s previous national record of 107 against India in 2022.
The 18 boundaries represented another Bangladesh record for the most fours in a single women’s ODI innings.
Reflecting on the achievement, Mostary said:
“I’m so happy about my hundred because I did it against the world champion.”
Although India won the 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup, Australia remain the most successful team in the competition’s history with seven titles.
Mostary and Joty Register Record Partnership
Mostary’s century was supported by an outstanding partnership with captain Nigar Sultana. The pair added 195 runs, establishing Bangladesh’s highest partnership for any wicket in women’s ODI cricket. Joty remained unbeaten on 74 from 114 deliveries, providing stability while Mostary attacked Australia’s bowling.
Their partnership helped Bangladesh recover from a difficult position and produce their strongest batting performance of the series.
Mostary later explained how the captain’s encouragement helped her approach the innings.
“I thought about my batting style after getting out in the last game and how I could bat deep,” she said.
“When I went in, Joty told me to stay there and that we should stay together until the 40th over. We decided to play our own shots, punish the bad balls and respect the good ones. She always told me I was capable of scoring a hundred.”
Despite Bangladesh’s eventual defeat, the partnership demonstrated their ability to build substantial innings against a leading international bowling attack.
Mostary Finishes as Bangladesh’s Leading Run-Scorer
Mostary ended the three-match series as Bangladesh’s highest run-scorer and the third-leading batter across both teams. She accumulated 129 runs from three innings at an average of 43 and a strike rate of 73.71.
Her performances offered encouragement for Bangladesh’s middle order, particularly after the team struggled with early wickets throughout the series.
The century also highlighted the importance of converting promising starts into significant scores when facing experienced international opponents.
Young Bangladesh Bowlers Impress on ODI Debut
Joty also praised the contributions of Bangladesh’s emerging pace bowlers, Habiba Islam and Disha Biswas. Habiba made her ODI debut in the opening match and returned figures of 2/36 from six overs.
She dismissed Australian openers Georgia Voll and Beth Mooney, finishing with Bangladesh’s best bowling figures of the match.
Disha received her first ODI opportunity in the third match and also made an impact.
The young seamer dismissed Mooney, who was celebrating her 100th ODI appearance, providing Bangladesh with an important early breakthrough.
“We have seen a few young players do well. We had two debutants as well. It was challenging for them, but they gave their 100 percent in the middle,” Joty said.
Their performances suggested Bangladesh have promising bowling options as they continue developing their squad for future international assignments.
Bangladesh Face Important ICC Women’s Championship Challenge
Following the Australia series, Bangladesh will turn their attention towards improving their position in the ICC Women’s Championship. The team currently occupies eighth place in the standings, having secured one victory from six matches.
Their upcoming ODI series against New Zealand will therefore provide an important opportunity to collect points and strengthen their position.
Bangladesh will need greater consistency across their batting and bowling departments to compete effectively against another experienced international side.
Emerging Nations Trophy Offers Preparation Opportunity
Before travelling to New Zealand, Bangladesh are scheduled to participate in the second edition of the ICC Women’s Emerging Nations Trophy in Thailand. The competition will take place from November 12 to 25, 2026.
The tournament offers Bangladesh an opportunity to develop combinations, improve individual performances and build momentum before their next bilateral assignment.
Their tour of New Zealand is scheduled for December 10 to 23 and will include three T20 internationals followed by three ODIs.
The ODI series is set to begin on December 18.
New Zealand, led by Amelia Kerr, will present another demanding challenge as Bangladesh attempt to turn the lessons from Australia into improved results.
Nigar Sultana Continues Leading Bangladesh in ODIs
The Australia tour also came during an important period in Joty’s leadership career. On September 15, she announced her decision to step down as Bangladesh’s T20I captain ahead of the 2026 Asian Games in Japan.
Her final tournament as T20I skipper ended without a medal after Bangladesh lost to Pakistan, captained by Fatima Sana.
However, Joty remains an important figure in Bangladesh’s ODI plans.
Her unbeaten 74 against Australia demonstrated her value as an experienced middle-order batter, while her partnership with Mostary showed how Bangladesh can recover from difficult situations.
Bangladesh Look to Build on Australia Tour Lessons
Bangladesh’s first bilateral ODI series in Australia ended without a victory, but the tour provided several encouraging signs. Mostary’s record century, the historic partnership with Joty, half-centuries from Sharmin and Shorna, and the emergence of Habiba and Disha all offered reasons for optimism.
The main challenge will be translating those individual performances into consistent team results.
Bangladesh will now aim to apply the experience gained in Australia during the Emerging Nations Trophy and their upcoming white-ball series against New Zealand.
For Joty and her teammates, the focus remains on developing the consistency required to compete with the strongest teams in women’s international cricket.
