Australia women captain Sophie Molineux expects Tigresses to pose a different challenge when the two sides meet in their historic bilateral One Day International series in Brisbane next month, with pacer Marufa Akter already on the hosts’ radar.

“Bangladesh creates different challenges for us. It just shows you how further world games are going to be able to have Bangladesh here and playing in our home conditions,” Molineux told DGEN.News on Sunday.

“It is going to be a really exciting series for both of us. Hopefully the crowds come out, and it’s going to be a good contest.”

The 28-year-old said Kangaroos would not take Bangladesh lightly, particularly after the men’s team stunned Australia in the recent two-Test series.

Tigers levelled that series with a historic nine-wicket victory in Darwin, and Molineux expects the women’s series to provide another stern contest.

“I think that’s just sport, right? Anything can happen on any given day,” she said. “That’s probably just a nice reminder to everyone that’s what sport brings, and it was great to see.”

Molineux has also identified Bangladesh’s leading pacer Marufa Akter as a player Australia will need to study carefully.

“Yeah, she’s very skillful and again we’ll have to do our homework. We’ve played against them a little bit over the last two or three years, so we’ve got a lot of learnings from that,” the left-hander highlighted.

“At the same time, playing them in our conditions will be a bit different, and we’ll have to adjust accordingly.”

“I know we’re probably a little bit more used to the pace coming on the ball, but they’ve got some quality spinners in their team that we’re going to have to do our work on and make sure we’re prepared for,” she concluded.

Bangladesh’s women are set to play their first-ever bilateral series in Australia, marking a major milestone in their international journey.

The three-match ICC Women’s Championship series will be played at Allan Border Field in Brisbane on 9, 11 and 14 October, with all three matches scheduled as day-night fixtures.