As expected, it was victory for England yesterday, but Bangladesh’s women did themselves proud as they put on a decent chase and reached their highest ever Twenty20 international total, their previous best being 115. They let England have a few too many runs, with Charlotte Edwards’ 60 the clincher for England, but the partnership between Nigar Sultana and Salma Khatun was a highlight for the minnows, a definite improvement for them. Next up for England are the hosts India, while Bangladesh will face the West Indies in Chennai this Sunday.
Batting first, captain Edwards top-scored with 60 from 51 balls and some late hitting by Natalie Sciver, Danielle Wyatt and Katherine Brunt guided England to 153/7. Bangladesh skipper Jahanara Alam picked up three wickets while former captain Salma, Fahima Khatun, Khadija-tul Kubra and Rumana Ahmed all bagged a scalp apiece.
In reply, Bangladesh kept losing wickets in clusters and only a fine 64-run partnership for the fifth wicket between stumper-batter Nigar and Salma enabled their side past the 100-run mark. Bangladesh eventually managed 117/6.
Following the end of the game, Jahanara said, “It’s a good score for us, we lost, but it’s encouraging. We lost some wickets but Salma and Joty (Nigar) batted well, so it’s a good day for us. I have not been in good form, it’s good to get some wickets but I’m not happy, next time I’d like to concede fewer runs.”