Bangladesh women’s team made a flying start in the 2018 World T20I Qualifiers. The Tigresses, guided by a combined bowling effort, registered a crushing eight-wicket victory with 31 balls to spare against Papua New Guinea on the opening day of the tournament in Amstelveen, Netherlands Saturday.
Reigning Asia Cup champion Bangladesh, as anticipated, sent the opposition in to bat first. The Tigresses’ bowling attack justified the decision perfectly, restricting PNG to 84 runs for the loss of six wickets in the stipulated 20 overs. Pacer Panna Ghosh topped the Bangladesh bowling attack with two wickets.
PNG lower-order batter Veru Frank added 27 while middle-order batter Tanya Ruma was unbeaten on 23. Bangladesh captain Salma Khatun started it all, picking up the first PNG wicket in the second over.
Chasing the target, Bangladesh openers Shamima Sultana and Ayasha Rahman got their side off to a smooth start, blasting 41 runs inside six overs, before Ayasha was dismissed for 15. Shamima made 35, featuring five fours. No 3 batter Fargana Haque and middle-order batter Nigar Sultana later remained unbeaten as Bangladesh did not lose any further wickets. Fargana was not out on 17 while Nigar was undefeated on 11.
Bangladesh will take on host Netherlands in their second game Sunday before facing the United Arab Emirates Tuesday at the same venue. The Tigresses are in good form, having beaten Ireland 2-1 at their own backyard. Prior to that, the women in red and green clinched the six-nation Asia Cup, beating India in the final.
BRIEF SCORE
Bangladesh women 86/2 in 14.5 overs (Shamima 35, Fargana 17*) beat Papua New Guinea women 84/6 (Frank 27, Panna 2/15) by eight wickets
Bangladesh women thump Scotland
Earlier, Bangladesh posted a nine-wicket victory, with 10 overs to spare, against Scotland in a warm-up game, ahead of the World T20I Qualifiers in Rotterdam.
Batting first, Scotland were skittled out for just 47 runs in 18.5 overs in the face of some devastating bowling by the Bangladesh bowlers. Fahima Khatun picked up three wickets while Rumana Ahmed and Lily Rani Biswas bagged two apiece. Scotland top-order batter Rachel Scholes topped the innings with 16.
Bangladesh, chasing the low target, lost Shamima for a duck in just the third ball of the innings. However, Ayasha Rahman and Sharmin Sultana remained unbeaten to take Bangladesh to safety. Opener Ayasha scored 23 off 20 deliveries with two boundaries and one over boundary while No 3 batter Sharmin was not out on 18 off 37 balls with two fours.
BRIEF SCORE
Bangladesh women 51/1 in 10 overs (Ayasha 23*, Sharmin 18*) beat Scotland women 47 in 18.5 overs (Fahima 3/1, Rumana 2/8) by nine wickets
Source: Dhaka Tribune.
