Bangladesh women's cricket team have broke their ten-year drought of victory in T20 World Cups by winning the opening match of the 2024 edition in Sharjah on Thursday. The 16-run victory against Scotland has proved to be the first for Bangladesh in T20 World Cups since 2014 as they managed to defend a low score of 120 successfully.
Justifying her decision to bat first by hoping that the ball comes on nicely, Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana announced after winning the toss. However, their innings could never hit the second gear as only Shathi Rani (29) and Sobhana Mostary (36) went beyond 20 runs. Sultana herself managed only a run-a-ball 18 as Bangladesh set Scotland 120 for victory. Saskia Horley finished with three scalps, registering a haul of 2-0-13-3.
Nevertheless, Scotland equally struggled in their pursuit of a modest target, with Sarah Bryce, Kathryn Bryce, and Ailsa Lister were the only ones to reach double figures. Sarah Bryce, the keeper-batter, held the innings together by top-scoring with 49, but failed to propel Scotland past the finish line. While Bangladesh dropped a couple of catches, they still won by a convincing margin of 16 runs.
"This is the kind of wicket we need to be settled on" - Nigar Sultana
Following the 16-run win, Sultana admitted it was a pitch where it was not easy to play your shots on and were confident of defending it due to their spin-bowling unit. She stated at the post-match presentation:
"We have been waiting for this moment for a long time. We had in our minds that this is our moment. Means a lot. This is the kind of wicket we need to be settled on. It was not very easy to bat on initially. Building a partnership (between Rani and Mostary) was crucial for us. We had a good total and we kept believing in ourselves. We have a very good spin attack, with Marufa also doing well, so we were confident about it."
Bangladesh will next face England on Saturday in Sharjah.
