Home ›› 03 Oct 2022 ›› Sport
Bangladesh national women’s cricket team will be looking forward to continuing on their winning form against Pakistan in the Asia Cup 2022 in Sylhet today after they beat Thailand in the opening match of the tournament.
The hosts and defending champions thrashed Thailand by nine wickets in their opening fixture to get off to a flying start in their title defence.
Their next opponents, Pakistan, also got off to a similar beginning in the tournament as they beat Malaysia by the same margin on Sunday.
With both teams getting off to a great start, the clash will be more interesting considering that both will try to keep on their form.
For Bangladesh, the onus is higher as they are not just hosting the tournament, but are also defending the crown they won four years back.
While the home ground is to Bangladesh’s advantage, the history tilts towards Pakistan. In the 15 matches between the sides, Pakistan have won 14 of them. Bangladesh’s only win against them came in the 2018 Asia Cup, in which Bangladesh went all the way.
Bangladesh may not have a good record against Pakistan in T20Is, but in the last five One-Day Internationals between the sides, Bangladesh won four, with the latest being Bangladesh’s first win in their ODI World Cup history.
Bangladesh all-rounder Rumana Ahmed wanted to focus on those and continue their good form against Pakistan.
“We defeated Pakistan in the last (ODI) World Cup. We haven’t lost to them in some time. We also won against them in the last Asia Cup. Of course, our girls will do something good. We are very serious and will give our best effort,” she said.
While the T20I history is against Bangladesh, recent form is very much in favour of them. Bangladesh have won all of their last six matches, which included an unbeaten championship of the 2023 T20 World Cup Qualifiers in UAE. Pakistan, on the other hand, have won only two of their last five completed matches.
Rumana was only attentive to their strengths.
“We are only focusing on our strength. Our girls have been doing great in the last few tournaments. We are aiming at achieving something bigger. We are going forward strongly and we will do even better in the coming matches,” she said.
Bangladesh players have the know-how of the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium very well following their women’s National Cricket League campaign in August earlier this year.
Banking on that experience, Rumana said a score of 140 batting first would make their lives easier.
“We have played the NCL here. There are scopes for scoring here. If we manage 140 batting first, it will become easier,” she said.
Bangladesh’s biggest strength lies in their spin attack, something Pakistan are adept at handling. But Rumana believes that their spinners will be enough to outplay the Pakistanis.
“We know they play spin well. But we have always attacked them with spin. Our spinners are doing much better now. They have been putting in their best effort. Our spin attack is enough to beat Pakistan,” she told the media on Sunday.
Rumana added, “There is nothing to specially plan about. We have played against them a few times. I think the way we have prepared ourselves is good enough to play against them.”
The leg-spinner, who picked up three wickets in Bangladesh’s opening fixture against Thailand, said that she had nothing special planned for their upcoming fixture.
“I have planned nothing different. I always try to contribute with both bat and ball. I will try to keep up that consistency. We have an important match ahead and I will try to do that,” she said.
Bangladesh already have two points in the bag and are expected to win against UAE and Malaysia. A win against Pakistan might be enough to ensure a semi-final place for Nigar Sultana Joty and co, and they will look to complete it early.
