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Bangladesh national women’s cricket team suffered their second defeat on the trot on Monday as hosts New Zealand beat them by nine wickets (DLS Method) in Dunedin.
The match cut down to 27-overs per side, and batting first, Bangladesh managed 140-8, with Fargana Haque scoring Bangladesh’s first-ever fifty at the World Cup.
In reply, the hosts cruised to a nine-wicket win as Suzie Bates scored an unbeaten 79 off just 68 deliveries.
After the match, Bangladesh skipper Nigar Sultana Joty said that the conditions at Dunedin were not suited for play, and she was worried about the safety of her players.
“First of all, I would like to say this was not a good playing condition. Because there was a lot of rain, but still we played. And sometimes the bowlers couldn’t bowl, and the fielders couldn’t watch the ball well, and I was a bit worried about the safety of my fielders because we have five matches to go.
“So, it was very difficult for us to play in this kind of condition. But still, I think, in this condition, if we could play the full 50 overs match, then we had a chance to fight back. But still, I think we have a lot of positive things over here. And then we want to take all the positives from here and want to implement them in the next match,” the Bangladesh captain said.
She was full praise for Fargana, who scored 52 off 63 deliveries, and was the mainstay of the Bangladesh batting line-up.
“I’m very proud of Farzana. She got her first half-century in the World Cup, and the way she batted was brilliant. I appreciate that, and I hope that she will carry it forward,” Joty said.
She was also appreciative of her batters, who in Joty’s opinion, handled the New Zealand bowlers very well.
“I think our batters handled the New Zealand bowlers very well. People were concerned that maybe we will not be able to adjust to their bowling, but we handled their bowlers very well. And I think yes, it was quite disappointing because we handled their three top bowlers very well, but gave our wickets to a part-time bowler,” Joty said.
The Bangladesh skipper believed they have the potential to do well.
“I think we have that potential to do well and we don’t want to give ourselves like any kind of chance that we do not want to be disappointed. We want to move forward and we want to play well,” she said.
Joty added, “I believe we have a good bowling and batting unit. We have proven a lot of things as we did very well against South Africa, and we have done well as a bowling unit. And today I think there were a lot of important things.”
Batting first, Bangladesh had a great start as Fargana and Shamima Sultana put together 59 runs in just 56 deliveries for the opening stand.
But after that, they failed to put together any partnerships as only two batters besides their openers managed to reach double figures- Joty (11) and Sobhana Mostary (13).
Bangladesh had three run-outs in their innings, with off-spinner Amy Satterthwaite picking up three as Bangladesh ended on 140-8.
In reply, New Zealand lost Sophie Devine (14) in the seventh over, but that was the only success for the Bangladeshi bowlers as Bates and Amelia Kerr (47) took them to victory with seven overs in hand.
