Bangladesh look to get back to winning ways

After faltering against Pakistan in their second match, Bangladesh national women’s cricket team are aiming to get their Asia Cup campaign on track with a win against Malaysia in Sylhet today.

The women in red and green will bank on their recent form as well as their previous record against Malaysia to take the upper hand in the contest in Sylhet, where the pitches have aided spinners, a variation that Bangladesh have in abundance.

Bangladesh, in their two previous encounters against Malaysia, galloped to comfortable wins, with a 7-run win in the Commonwealth Games earlier this year, and an eight-wicket victory in the 2018 Asia Cup. With the confidence of their recent encounter against Malaysia, Nigar Sultana’s troops will be looking to solidify their road to the super fours.

While the wickets in Ground two have kept low and slow, it is expected that the pitches in the Ground 1 will offer more for everyone.

Bangladesh will play their first afternoon match of the tournament. The conditions in the 9 AM matches have been gloomy, resulting in the tricky nature of the wickets but the extra hours of sunlight are expected to deliver a much more sporting surface.

Malaysia, on the other hand, are yet to win a match in the tournament as they were well short against India in a rain-curtailed match, lost by nine wickets to Pakistan, and were edged by UAE in their third match.

After a dominating start to the tournament, a confident Bangladesh side hoped to inflict damage on Pakistan with a host of spinners but the batters failed to put up a fighting total in the first innings allowing the Pakistan batters to cruise to a nine-wicket victory.

Chasing a total of 70, Pakistan crossed the finish line in the 13th over having lost only opener, Muneeba Ali, to off-spinner Salma Khatun.

A Bangladesh win would see them solidify their bid for the semis, while Malaysia, who are already in dire straits would have to do something extraordinary and bank on other teams to falter to stay in contention for the last four.