Tigresses lose again

Bangladesh are yet to secure a win in the ongoing ICC Women's World T20 as Salma Khatun's side suffered a 25-run defeat against Sri Lanka in their third group stage match at the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium at Gros Islet, St Lucia yesterday.

After electing to field, Bangladesh got off to a good start as Jahanara Alam bowled Yasoda Mendis with the very first ball of the innings.

The Tigresses restricted their opponents well as Sri Lanka could only notch 17 for one on the scoreboard by the end of their powerplay.

Shashikala Siriwardene's 31 off 33 balls helped the Lankans eventually post 97 for seven. Jahanara was the pick of Bangladesh's bowlers, bagging three wickets for 21 runs from her four-over spell.

Coming in to chase, Bangladesh fell under immense pressure as Sanjida Islam and Fargana Hoque made early exits in the very first over of the innings.

The Tigresses could not recover from that initial shock and kept losing wickets at regular intervals with only three Bangladesh batters managing two-figure scores. Nigar Sultana top scored for the side with 20 runs.

After the match, Jahanara expressed her disappointment with this defeat as it may have dented Bangladesh's chances of avoiding the qualifiers altogether next time around.

"We had a goal, that we don't want to play any more T20 qualifiers," Jahanara said. "But we still have a chance to increase our rank if we win against South Africa. Who knows, something can happen, cricket is an unpredictable game."

If they are to save some pride, Bangladesh need to win their last game of the tournament against South Africa on Sunday.