Joty sees positives in Habiba’s debut despite Australia defeat

Bangladesh Women's team captain Nigar Sultana Joty heaped praise on pacer Habiba Islam Pinky for her tremendous debut on a challenging condition in Australia amid the side's heavy defeat to the hosts in the first of three-match ODI series at Allan Border Field in Brisbane today.

Put into bat first, Bangladesh were bowled out for just 166 in 49.2 overs, a total that Australia gunned down effortlessly, reaching 168-3 in 25.4 overs and sealed a seven-wicket victory.

However, Habiba gave Australia some tough time early in the innings, taking out opener Georgia Voll. She later came back to claim the wicket of Beth Mooney to finish with 2-36 on her ODI debut.

Joty said Habiba's aggressive approach and consistently hitting the right areas was the thing to watch.

"Habiba Pinky was aggressive and attacking in her approach, which was a treat to watch," Joty said after the match, praising the youngster.

"Whoever got the ball in hand bowled in the right areas. We should take these positives with us into the next game," she added.

Joty said the lack of partnerships and losing too many wickets in the powerplay cost her side dearly in their seven-wicket defeat to Australia."We didn't get partnerships, so we lost our way. There were a lot of positives," he remarked.

Joty stressed the need for greater composure and patience when facing the new ball, saying Bangladesh must avoid losing too many wickets during the powerplay.

"We need to be cautious against the new ball. We can't lose so many wickets in the powerplay. We need to be calm and patient to gain control. We look forward to doing that in the next game," she said.