Bangladesh women’s team captain Nigar Sultana Joty
was upbeat about a positive result against Scotland in their opening match in
the T20 World Cup despite putting up a total that looked not good to
guarantee a victory.
She said, the kind of the bowling attack she had, gave her the belief of
winning game even though Bangladesh came to the marquee tournament with no
victory in the last four editions.
“We have a very good spin attack, with Marufa (pace bowler) also doing well,
so we were confident about it (the defence),” Joty said after Bangladesh
registered 16-run victory against Scotland at Sharjah Cricket Stadium in UAE.
It was the Tigresses only second victory in the tournament, having won the
first game one decade ago when Bangladesh hosted the event in 2014.
Bangladesh remained win-less in the last four editions despite playing 16
matches.
Bangladesh were the hosts of this edition too but the ICC moved the showcase
event to UAE due to the country’s political turmoil. However, Bangladesh
st
ill have the hosting rights.
“We have been waiting for this moment for a long time. We had in our minds
that this is our moment. It means a lot,” an elated Joty revealed, adding
that batting was utmost tough task in this kind of wicket.
Electing to bat first, Bangladesh were held back to 117-9 but they defended
it astutely to romp to a 16-run victory. With the win, they held their 100
percent winning record against Scotland.
“This is the kind of wicket we need to be settled on. It was not very easy to
bat on initially,” she said, praising the effort of Sathi Rani and Sobhana
Mostary who added 42-run for the second wicket stand.
Mostary made team-best 36 while opener Sathi scored 29.
“The partnership between Rani and Mostary was crucial for us. We had a good
total and we kept believing in ourselves,” Joty remarked.
Joty achieved the landmark of playing 100 T20 Internationals as the first
Bangladeshi women batter with this match. But she came down to lower order
rather than playing in her usual m
iddle order position.
Citing this as strategic move, she informed: “We are trying to do something
different. Taj (Nehar) was playing brilliantly in the last two warm-up games,
and the idea was for her to build a partnership and hit some boundaries.
Unfortunately, she got out.”
“(But) we are trying to get the momentum and we got it. It’s pleasing that we
fought back and seeing them (the girls) smile is the biggest inspiration.”
Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha