Powershell isn't competing with bash, it's competing with Python. So then, how does it compare against Python? While plenty of small scripts are still done with bash, I think Python is pretty common for serious production needs. I use it for virtually all scripting these days.
I had a recent experience where a developer spent a day and couldn't get Powershell's webrequest library to do what he wanted. I was able to accomplish the goal in 15 minutes with Python on a Debian system.
Sure, there are different ways to do various things, especially depending on what one is familiar with and what the task at hand is. It sounds more like you knew how to get something done with your tools faster than the other guy/gal in this case. :)
There are obviously many factors such as domain knowledge and language familiarity. I respect the developer who failed to do this in Powershell, he's very capable.
In this case, I would chalk it up to Python having a longer history and being more mature. Neither of us were particularly familiar with this domain, but because of the quality of Python's online community and documentation, it wasn't difficult to accomplish the goal.
I had a recent experience where a developer spent a day and couldn't get Powershell's webrequest library to do what he wanted. I was able to accomplish the goal in 15 minutes with Python on a Debian system.