Unbeaten centuries from captain Rumana Ahmed and No 3 batter Fargana Haque and an epic eight-for by leg spinner Fahima Khatun got Bangladesh off to a flying start to the tour of South Africa. Bangladesh in the lone 50-over practice game Wednesday defeated North West team by 90 runs in Potchefstroom.
Bangladesh batted first but faced a shaky start following dismissal of the two openers with just four runs on the board. The situation however, was recovered brilliantly by Rumana and Fargana as the duo added 266 unbroken runs for the third-wicket stand to guide Bangladesh to 270 for the loss of two wickets in their stipulated 50 overs.
Rumana topped the Bangladesh innings with her unbeaten 136 off 144 deliveries with 20 boundaries. At the other end, Fargana added undefeated 102 facing 143 balls, featuring 10 fours.
Chasing the target, North West made a steady start, putting 94 on the board losing two wickets. From there however, the tables turned drastically as Fahima stunned the opposition batters to leave them struggling on 131/9 in 36.3 overs.
North West batter Elrisa Fourie (64*) batting at No 4 tried to create some resistance with Kgotatso Molefe (three) but the effort was too little, too late as the home side managed 180 before being dismissed in 45.4 overs.
Fahima finished with eight wickets conceding just five runs in her quota of 10 overs, including six maidens. Off-spinner Khadija-tul Kubra and pacer Jahanara Alam picked up a wicket each for Bangladesh.
With the massive win, Bangladesh will be highly boosted when they take on their South African counterparts in the first match of the five-ODI series Friday at Senwes Park in Potchefstroom. The women in red and green will also play a three-game T20I series against the South Africans.
BRIEF SCORENorth West 180 in 45.4 overs (Fourie 64*, Fahima 8/5) lost to
Bangladesh 270/2 (Rumana 136*, Fargana 102*)
by 90 runs
