Bangladesh Women’s Emerging Team managed to down Pakistan in a rain-affected match in Mong Kok, Hong Kong by six runs (DLS Method) to secure a place in the final of the ACC Women’s Emerging Teams Cup on Tuesday.
They will now face the India Emerging Team in the final on Thursday.
Early rain saw the game reduced to nine overs per side and Bangladesh skipper Lata Mondol opted to bat first.
And Bangladesh started horribly. Opener Shathi Rani hit a four in the first ball and was out on the next, and in the same over bowled by Fatima Sana, Sobhana Mostary and Lata were out in consecutive deliveries, leaving Bangladesh on 4-3 at the end of the first over.
Murshida Khatun could make only one before falling to Anosha Nasir, and in the next over, Shorna Akter, who scored four, was run out to deepen Bangladesh’s wound. However, it did not end there as Dilara Akter, the only batter to play five balls among the top six, was sent back by Nasir.
At that point, Bangladesh were on 16-6, and a win looked impossible.
However, a 37-run partnership between Nahida Akter and Rabeya Khan saw Bangladesh go past fifty, and then, Sultana Khatun came in to play two balls.
She could not manage anything in the first but the second, she smashed it out of the park for a six.
In hindsight, that was the shot that took Pakistan’s asking rate over six. Looking back at it after the match, with the winning margin being exactly six, the shot seems like the deciding one.
In reply, things were going well for Pakistan as openers Shawaal Zulfiqar and Eyman Fatima added 26 runs off 23 balls but Bangladesh managed to make inroads when leg-spinner Rabeya managed to nick off the latter for 18.
The next two overs only yielded seven runs and Nahida sent Zulfiqar (11) back, putting the pressure on Pakistan as they now needed 27 runs off the last three overs.
The first three balls of the seventh over, bowled by Rabeya, gave away six runs but the spinner came back strong as the last three produced the wicket of Sadaf Shamas (8) and just a run.
Pacer Marufa Akter gave away seven runs in the first five deliveries of the penultimate over, meaning Pakistan needed 13 runs off the last seven balls. However, Marufa managed to knock over Natalia Pervaiz in the final delivery, meaning Sanjida Akter Meghla had 13 to defend in the final over.
And that she did. A brilliant final over saw Pakistani duo Fatima and Syeda Aroob Shah take only six singles, meaning Bangladesh secured a place in the final with a win by six runs.
Nahida was adjudged player of the match for her all-round brilliance – 21 runs off 16 balls with the bat, the innings that propelled their effort, and then a wicket with the ball and giving away just eight runs in her two overs.
In the group stage, Bangladesh thrashed Malaysia in the opening game by 97 runs, and then two washed-out games against Sri Lanka and UAE saw them qualify for the semis as the Champions of Group A.
After their semi-final win, Bangladesh will now take on India in the final, where they will hope for a repeat of the 2018 Asia Cup, which Bangladesh won to earn their first-ever international silverware.
