Mohammedan Sporting Club completed a hat-trick of Women’s Club Cricket Tournament titles on the back of some disciplined bowling and Salma Khatun’s batting as they defeated Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club by seven wickets in the final on Wednesday.
Salma, the national skipper and the poster girl for women’s cricket in Bangladesh, scored an unbeaten 46 runs as Mohammedan raced to 131-3 in 32.3 overs after their bowlers restricted Sheikh Jamal to 129-8 in 40 overs at the Dhanmondi Cricket Club.
Mohammedan were reeling at 37-2, losing their centurion from the last match, Shukatara Rahman (21) and player of the tournament Sathira Jakir (10), before Salma and Sharmin Sultana resurrected the innings by putting together 32 runs for the third wicket.
Both of them played with a lot of maturity, milking ones and twos to take the pressure off their shoulders before Sharmin was removed by Subarno Islam for 29 off 27 balls.
Salma and all-rounder Rumana Ahmed (21) added an unbeaten 62 runs to help the Kotijheel outfit win their hat-trick title and confirm them as the dominant force in club cricket with their fourth trophy in the first five editions of the tournament.
‘I am happy because we targeted the hat-trick title,’ Salma told reporters.
Electing to bat first, Sheikh Jamal looked lost from the very beginning as wickets tumbled at regular intervals, before a rearguard performance by the lower-order helped them reach the three-digit mark.
Number seven Reshma Akter scored 24 to lead the team, while Sobarno Islam chipped in with 22. Together they put on 39 runs for the eighth wicket, but it was not enough.
‘It was a result of team effort, though due to rain some of our players could not perform to their potential,’ said Salma, who was the tournament’s highest run-scorer with 214 from five matches (average 42.8).
Mohammedan’s Sathira Jakir was adjudged the player of the tournament for her impressive all-round performance. She made 194 runs
at 48.5 in five games and led the wicket tally with 13 scalps.
‘It was very satisfying as I could prove my worth after being dropped from the national side,’ said a determined Sathira.
After being in the national side for five years I was dropped and I feel it was the right response to those who had misjudged my ability,’ added Sathira, pointing her fingers towards national coach Mamta Maben.
Mamta dropped Sathira after joining as the head coach of the Bangladesh women’s team and had a very strained relationship with the all-rounder during her tenure.
When asked whether there were enough players coming up through this tournament, Salma, the national skipper, suggested that the Bangladesh Cricket Board should address the pool system.
‘If the BCB allowed two pool cricketers in each team instead of four there would be more competition,’ she said.
‘New players would get the opportunity to perform as it is hard for them to show their potential where there are four players,’ she added.
-With New Age input
