Spin-bowling allrounder Alana King showcased yet again why she can be a nightmare for the bowlers at the fag end of the innings as she clobbered Bangladesh's wily leg-spinner Fahim Khatun for 28 runs in the final over of Australia's innings in the first ODI of the three-match series on Thursday (March 21).
King, who got the strike after Annabel Sutherland picked up a single on the first ball of the final over, waited patiently on the backfoot and deposited a slightly short of a good length delivery from Khatun for a maximum over cow corner.
The right-handed batter utilised the depth of her crease to full effect and launched the third delivery over the deep midwicket fence for yet another maximum. The fourth delivery brought a bit of respite for Khatun and Bangladesh as it went for four.
However, King smeared the penultimate ball for yet another maximum despite Khatun landing it way outside her off stump. Feeling the heat, Khatun got under tremendous pressure and lost track of her game plan. The Bangladesh spinner bowled a loopy leg-spinning delivery to complete the over and it seemed that the Aussie was waiting for something similar.
Watch Alana King's power-packed batting against Fahim Khatun:
King went for a slog sweep and connected beautifully to clear the fielder patrolling the cow corner fence and provided Australia just the kind of finish that they were looking for at the end of their innings. King remained unbeaten and hit five sixes in her 31-ball 46-run knock. She broke Shelly Nitschke's (Australia's head coach) all-time Australia record for hitting the most (5) number of sixes in an ODI innings.
Nitschke had smoked four sixes in her 113*-run knock against New Zealand in Invercargill on March 6, 2010.
Bangladesh playing XI:
Murshida Khatun, Sobhana Mostary, Fargana Hoque, Nigar Sultana (c & wk), Ritu Moni, Shorna Akter, Rabeya Khan, Nahida Akter, Fahima Khatun, Marufa Akter, Sultana Khatun
Australia playing XI:
Alyssa Healy (c & wk), Phoebe Litchfield, Ellyse Perry, Beth Mooney, Tahlia McGrath, Ashleigh Gardner, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Wareham, Alana King, Kim Garth, Megan Schutt
