Bangladesh 119 for 7 (Mostary 36, Rani 29; Horley 3-13) beat Scotland 103 for 7 (Sarah Bryce 49*, Moni 2-15) by 16 runs
An unwanted 16-match, decade-long losing streak in T20 World Cups has come to an end in the form of a first tournament match win away from home for Bangladesh, in one they were meant to be hosting. Victory for Bangladesh in the first match of the women’s T20 World Cup 2024 was layered, and at times laboured, as they eventually bested Scotland by 16 runs.
It was a gritty affair in Sharjah, and a chastening experience for Scotland, making their first appearance in a World Cup. They managed just five of the 15 boundaries struck between both teams.
Bangladesh captain
Nigar Sultana, playing in her 100th T20I, was right to bat after winning the toss. The logic of having first use of a fresh Sharjah pitch, and using draining temperatures – a high of 38°C – to sap the energy of the team fielding first was sound.
The application, however, was far from smooth. They had to do a lot of running to post their total of 119 for 9, with
Shathi Rani‘s 29 and 36 from
Sobhana Mostary – both career-bests in the format – the most noteworthy contributions.
Rani’s dismissal – the second wicket – was the first of six to fall in 49 deliveries for just 50 runs. Offspinning allrounder
Saskia Horley was the main beneficiary of this cascade, pocketing her best T20I figures of 3 for 13, having only been brought into the attack in the 18th over. But with Fahima Khatun’s 10 off 5 – the only batter to post a double-figure score at a strike rate greater than 100 – Bangladesh were at least able to ask Scotland to chase a run-a-ball score.
It did not take long for the run rate to escalate, compounded by the loss of Kathryn Bryce – bowled by an inducker from Marufa Afkter that kept low – to make it 31 for 2 at the end of the powerplay.
Ritu Moni‘s wily medium pacers kept Scotland in check, and she finished her four overs with 2 for 15, by which point Scotland required 38 from the final three overs.
Any hope of getting those rested on an exhausted
Sarah Bryce. The keeper-batter should have been dismissed on 29, running past a delivery from Rabeya Khan and then somehow reclaiming her ground after Sultana had first missed the original take behind the stumps, and then botched the second attempt in front of them.
A further life came on 38 when her straight heave was dropped in the penultimate over by a diving Rabeya, who made amends three balls later to remove Katherine Fraser for
Nahida Akter‘s 100th T20I wicket. Aged 24 years and 215 days, the left-arm spinner is the second-youngest to reach the milestone, after England’s Sophie Ecclestone.
Sarah finished unbeaten on 49, though not before a third reprieve when dropped at cover. That she could only manage one boundary from her 52 deliveries spoke to a broader issue that left Scotland well short of their opponents.
