Bangladesh batters Rabeya Khan and Misty Shaha dug deep as they saw their side off in a nervy run chase beating the USA by five wickets in their final Group A match of the ICC Women’s U-19 T20 World Cup at Willowmoore Park in Benoni yesterday.

With qualification already in the bag, the win took Bangladesh through to the Super 6 phase as group-winners meaning that Disha Biswas and Co will likely avoid India, who are in pole position to top from Group D, in the next round.

Chasing a modest 104, Bangladesh brought up Sumaiya Akter to open the innings with Afia Prottasha but the decision didn’t pay many dividends as she was dismissed for 12-ball 10 skying one up off Aditiba Chudasama and in-form Afia perished in another soft dismissal failing to clear mid-on as Bangladesh were 21-2 inside five overs.

Dilara Akter steadied the ship with a watchful 15-ball 17 and Shorna Akter who was promoted up the order took no time to smash away two fours and a six in her 14-ball 22 but she tried to hit one too many and skied one to long-off off the bowling of Tanmayyi Eyyunni in the ninth over.Dilara did the same in the next over leaving Bangladesh at 64-4.

Skipper Disha Biswas and Rabeya Khan took a grip of things and looked to be taking Bangladesh home but the captain was undone by a ripper off Aditiba Chudasama that saw the ball turn sharply from off-stump and go through the gate sending jitters inside the Bangladesh camp with the score at 86-5.

But Rabeya and Misty knuckled down and nervously safeguarded their team home with a 24-ball 18 and a 13-ball 14 respectively.

Earlier, the USA managed to post 104 after opting to bat first. 

Snigdha Paul fought hard for her 37-ball 26 and had support from Disha Dhingra who managed 26 runs off 37 balls.

Disha, who was adjudged the player of the match, scalped two wickets for 13 runs and Marufa picked up one as all bowlers except for Dipa Khatun expertly kept the scoring under six runs an over.

Bangladesh U-19s, who earlier had beaten Australia and Sri Lanka, play their next match on January 21 in Potchefstroom.

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Bangladesh women’s team made a sensational start in the ICC Women’s Under-19 T20 World Cup as they beat their Australian counterparts in their first match by seven-wicket at the Willowmoore Park in Benoni on Saturday.

Dilara Akter scored 40 off 42 while Sumaiya Akter and Shorna Akter remained not out on 31 and 23 runs respectively to reach 132 losing just three wickets with 12 balls to spare.

Bangladesh lost opener Misty Shaha in the first ball of the innings but every other batter kept their head cool to chase down the target of 131.

Earlier in the day, Australia decided to bat first after winning the toss but Bangladeshi bowlers kept them in check.

One-down Claire Moore scored 52 but consumed 51 balls while Ella Hayward scored 35 off 39.

Opening bowlers Marufa Akter and Disha Bishwas grabbed two wickets apiece for Bangladesh while Dipa Khatun played a pivotal role restricting Australia as she conceded just 16 runs bowling four overs.

Bangladesh had entered the tournament in fine form after strong performances in the warm-up matches.

But this landmark and deserved victory over Australia is an early indication that this is going to be a wide open tournament. 

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India and Sri Lanka advanced to the eighth Women’s Asia Cup semi-finals after defeating Thailand and the host Bangladesh, on a rain-hampered day in Sylhet on Monday.

Pakistan joined them in the semi-final as well because both teams have eight points and are tied for second position with Sri Lanka.

Bangladesh will take the final spot if they can beat the UAE in their final league match today.

India thrashed Thailand by nine wickets under the Duckworth-Lewis method after Sri Lanka eked out a three-run win against Bangladesh in another rain-interrupted match at the Sylhet Outer Cricket Stadium.

Thailand will be through to the semi-final if UAE win against Bangladesh on the final day of the league phase.

India denied Thailand any momentum after winning the toss and electing to bowl, dismissing the side for just 37 runs in 15.1 overs.

Off-break bowler Sneh Rana picked up three wickets, giving away just nine runs in her four overs, while Deepti Sharma and Rajeshwari Gayakwad picked up two wickets each.

Nannapat Koncharoenkai was the only batter to reach double digits for Thailand with 12 runs. Set a revised target of 38 runs in six overs, India started slowly and needed 16 runs to score in the last over of their innings.

Sabbhineni Meghana (20 not out) and Pooja Vastrakar (12 not out) struck two boundaries each to take them to 40-1 in six overs, breaking the hearts of Thailand.

Bangladesh watched the game nervously, as a Thailand win would end their chance of qualifying for the semi-final.

The hosts and defending champions missed the chance to control their own fate, losing to Sri Lanka by three runs in an equally thrilling contest earlier in the day.

After electing to bowl first, they restricted Sri Lanka to 83-5 in 18.1 overs when rain halted the game.

They were set a revised target of 41 runs in seven overs after play resumed, but the hosts could manage only 37-7.

Inoka Ranaweera claimed four wickets in one over to finish with 4-7 and give the game a decisive turn towards Sri Lanka.

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India recovered from a shocking loss to Pakistan to defeat hosts Bangladesh by 59 runs on Saturday in Sylhet, effectively securing a spot in the semifinals of the eighth Women’s Asia Cup.

India has eight points after winning four of its last five games, with one more match to play in the league round.

Five teams can still finish with eight points, but India are unlikely to miss out on a spot in the semi-final thanks to their high run rate.

Sri Lanka defeated Malaysia by 72 runs in the other match of the day to stay firmly in the race for a semi-final spot after six points from four matches.

Openers set up the win for India in Sylhet Outer Cricket Stadium as Shafali Verma hit 55 off 44 balls and

Smriti Mandhana, also the captain of the side, added 47.

One-down Jemimah Rodrigues smashed an unbeaten 35 off 24 balls after Smriti’s run out ended the 96 run opening stand, guiding India to 159-5 in 20 overs.

Leg-break bowler Rumana Ahmed finished with 3-27 runs.

Bangladesh openers Fargana Hoque (30) and Murshida Khatun (21) put 45 runs in the opening stand but struggled to maintain the asking run rate.

Skipper Nigar Sultana made the highest 36 runs from 29 balls as the hosts ended their stipulated 20 overs with 100-7.

Shafali Verma was named player of the match after claiming 2-10, while Deepti Sharma also claimed 2-13 and accomplished a vital run out with a direct throw from short mid-on.

Earlier in the day, Malsha Shehani claimed four wickets for just two runs as Sri Lanka bowled out Malaysia for 33 runs to record a comprehensive win, despite posting 105-7 batting first on winning the toss.

Sasha Azmi (2-10) and Ainna Hashim (2-23) bowled impressively to restrict Sri Lanka to a modest score, with number eight Oshadi Ranasinghe scoring the highest, 23 not out, for the latter.

Sri Lanka bowlers kept Malaysia under pressure from the word go as Sugandika Kumari (2-11) and Inoka Ranaweera (2-8) enjoyed some early success before player of the match Shehani completed the rout.

Elsa Hunter was the only batter for Malaysia to reach double figures with 18.

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Bangladesh women’s team captain Nigar Sultana Joty has been nominated for the ICC Women’s Player of the Month award, as the International Cricket Council announced the nominees for the month of September on Wednesday.

Joty guided the Bangladesh to victory in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifiers in the United Arab Emirates and helped seal a place at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in South Africa in 2023.

She scored 180 runs at an average of 45 in five T20Is as her team qualified for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates.

The Bangladesh skipper opened her team’s account with a critical 67 in their first game, a triumph over eventual finalists Ireland, and then scored an undefeated 56 against the USA to secure a spot in the World Cup.

This makes Joty the first female Bangladesh national team player to be nominated for the award since Nahida Akter in November 2021.

The other two nominees for the women’s award are Indian duo Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana.

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The International Cricket Council (ICC) released the schedule for the massive tournament on Monday, and Bangladesh will play Sri Lanka in their first match of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup on February 12 of next year in Capetown.

The eighth iteration of the competition will get underway on February 10, 2023 with hosts South Africa playing Sri Lanka before the T20 World Cup final is held in Cape Town on February 26.

Bangladesh finished the qualifiers as unbeaten champions, and finalists Ireland filled the remaining spot in the 10-team tournament.

The Tigresses are placed in Group 1 alongside hosts South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and Sri Lanka while England, India, West Indies, Pakistan and Ireland are placed in Group 2.

In the group games, each team will take on the other four teams once. The top two teams from the two groups will feature in the semi-finals on February 23 and 24.

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Sports Desk : dhakamirror.com

Bangladesh women’s cricket team wants to play as a unit so that they can retain the crown of the Women’s Asia Cup starting today in Sylhet.

Hosts Bangladesh will begin their campaign when they take on Thailand in the opening match of the tournament at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium.

In the other match of the day, India will play against Sri Lanka at the same venue. GTV will telecast both the matches live at 9:00am and 1:30pm respectively.

After Pakistan’s tour in October 2018, these matches will be the first women’s internationals played in the country. This will be the first time that Sylhet will be hosting women’s international matches since the 2014 T20 World Cup.

However, Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana Joty thinks being the hosts and playing the regional tournament on home soil will not add any pressure to the team, and they just want to go ahead match by match while trying to carry out their plans.

‘We are not thinking of it [playing on the home ground] as an added challenge. We want to play match by match and are looking forward to implementing our plans properly on the field’, Joty told reporters on Friday.

Bangladesh currently holds the Asia Cup trophy, as they defeated India in a thrilling final in Kuala Lumpur in 2018.

Being the defending champions, the captain of Bangladesh believed that there was no going upward from here. Since they have already won this trophy in the last edition of this tournament, the only task they would be looking forward to is retaining the title.

‘Since we have been playing well for quite some time now, and this trophy was ours before, we don’t have the scope for improvement. So, our goal is to retain the trophy, and we can achieve that if we keep playing good cricket.’

Joty wasn’t worried about the improvement of other participants, as, according to her, the Bangladesh team has quite improved as well.

To win every match in the tournament and eventually the trophy, the captain wanted to play their own brand of cricket by executing their plans and playing as a team in each match.

She wanted the whole team to contribute to each of the matches to get the desired outcome.

‘Whenever we win a match, you will see that the whole team contributed something to that. Whenever one individual played really well, and the others underperformed, we didn’t get to win those matches. Instead, little contributions from everyone got us the wins, and we want the same in the Asia Cup too,’she said.

Joty also talked about her own form and the inclusion of pacer Jahanara Alam in the squad. She believed the team became much stronger with the inclusion of the former captain.

She herself also wanted to make a significant contribution to the team in the tournament.

‘I always plan to play as per the demands of the team and the situation. I am in a good flow right now, so I want to contribute well as per the team’s situation and demand’, Joty concluded.

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Bangladesh defended a modest target of 121 runs and emerged unbeaten champions in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifiers, beating Ireland by seven runs in the final at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.

Irish all-rounder Arlene Kelly threatened to take the game away from the Tigresses with an unbeaten 24-ball 28 run knock but Nigar Sultana’s troops managed to hold their nerves and eventually restricted Ireland to 113 for 9 after 20 overs.

Defending a small total, Bangladesh got off to a flying start as spinners Sanjida Akter and Nahida Akter got early breakthroughs.

Rumana got the crucial wickets of Eimear Richardson (18 off 15) and skipper Laura Delany (12 off 22) in the middle as Ireland were reeling at 58 for seven in 12.3 overs. Rumana ended with figures of three for 24 in four overs.

Earlier, Fargana Hoque hit her third WT20I fifty, and Rumana played a 20-ball 21-run knock to help Bangladesh post a modest total of 120 for 8 in 20 overs.

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Nigar Sultana Joty, the captain of Bangladesh, believes that her team is a “prime contender” to advance for the main event from the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier, which gets underway today in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Bangladesh national women’s team will also start their tournament campaign on the same day as they take on Ireland in a Group A encounter at the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

The match is scheduled to start at 9:00pm Bangladesh Standard Time.

Bangladesh are the top-ranked side in the qualifying tournament and they emerged champions in the previous two editions of the qualifiers in 2018 and 2019 respectively.

‘I believe we are prime contenders to qualify for the main event, and there, the challenge is to live up to expectations. I’m very confident in the capabilities of my team, but we have to play our natural game and be consistent,’ Joty was quoted in an ICC press release.

Bangladesh, however, suffered a massive blow ahead of their tournament campaign as pace bowler Jahanara Alam and batter Fargana Hoque Pinky were ruled out of the tournament for different reasons.

Jahanara was ruled out of qualifiers after sustaining a hand injury in practice while Fargana was tested positive for Covid-19.

Left-arm pacer Fariha Islam Trisna was named the replacement for Jahanara while all-rounder Shohaly Akther, who last represented Bangladesh eight years ago, was named the replacement for Fargana.

Despite the two setbacks, Bangladesh clinched a massive 54-run victory over UAE in their lone warm-up game in Abu Dhabi on Friday and they want to continue the same form in the tournament as well.

‘We are obviously looking to ensure qualification. It’s not about the opposition or the conditions. We are focusing on improvement all the time,’ Joty said.

‘I think in terms of experience and quality, we are right up there. The players have been together for a while and therefore the team spirit is excellent.

‘We have played a major domestic competition, the National Cricket League, before coming here. This season’s tournament was played in a T20 format, which has helped the players adapt to the different styles because our last international

competition was the 50-over World Cup. Besides, we have been training continuously…’ she added.

Meanwhile, in the day’s other matches, hosts UAE will take on Thailand, Zimbabwe will take on PNG and Scotland will face USA.

Bangladesh will play their next two Group A matches against Scotland and USA on September 19 and 21 respectively.

Group B consists of Thailand, Zimbabwe, Papua New Guinea and UAE.

The top two teams from each group will progress to the semi-final while the final of the tournament will take place on September 25.

Both the finalists will get a chance to play in the upcoming ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, scheduled in South Africa next year.

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Bangladesh seems confident of securing their spot in next year’s ICC Women’s T20 World Cup by finishing top of the four-team group at their qualifying tournament, to be held in the United Arab Emirates from September 18-25 target.

The USA, Scotland, Ireland, and the Tigresses are placed in the same group. Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana Joty thinks Ireland are the toughest opponents in the field but remains hopeful of clearing the Irish hurdle.

“First we have to make sure we qualify. And I have to admit that Ireland are a very strong team but if you look at their record against us the wins are few and we are the favorites in that regard. And as for the team, we’ve been playing for a long time and if we can fulfill our potential and consistency provided the batters play well then I think we’ll be the favourites”, the Bangladesh captain said of his chances against Ireland and on overall qualification during a press conference in Mirpur today.

Joty’s words were echoed by Manjurul Islam, the former Bangladeshi cricketer and chief selector of women’s teams. Of course we hope to qualify for the T20 World Championship with the team that is available to us, said the chief selector.

According to Joty, the weather in the UAE would be a big challenge for all teams. “We saw at the men’s Asian Cup recently that the weather over there [in the United Arab Emirates] is really terrible. Ireland, being a cold weather based country, will of course arrive with a completely different weather but we also need to adapt. And that’s why the board made the decision to let us travel there earlier so we can acclimatize better”.

The chief selector summarized the tactical preparation the Tigresses went through at home ahead of the qualifiers.

“It’s true that we haven’t played for a long time [due to the coronavirus pandemic]. However, lately we have done a lot of domestic preparation for T20 cricket, from the introduction of T20s in NCL in lieu of one-day matches, to four T20 matches during the seven-day camp at Sylhet, with the aim of working on match scenarios that will Format presented”, said Manjurul.

Right arm pacer Marufa Akter, coming in place of Suriya Azmin, was the only new face in the Nigar Sultana Joty-led side, which also saw Jahanara Alam return to the team, which replaces Fariha Islam Trishna.

The reporters at the press conference asked both Manjurul and Joty the inclusion of Marufa.

Manjurul said, “We considered the upcoming tournament to be the best platform to give opportunities to new faces, not name-wise but based on their performance”.

“And she [Marufa] is an performer. If you look at the Premier League she was the best player and in the NCL she was the second highest wicket taker. And bowling aside, if you look at Marufa’s batting profile, she fits perfectly as a batsman in the number six-seven position in T20 cricket”.

“So we picked her as the most suitable player to take the place of Suriya and Trishna who are likely to be in the Asian Cup in Bangladesh later [after the qualifiers].

Joty also brought up Marufa’s superior field skills and ability to act as a team player.

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