Tigresses one step closer to final

The Bangladesh women's cricket team continued to impress in the Women's T20 Asia Cup in Kuala Lumpur as they moved one step closer to booking a place in Sunday's final by comprehensively beating Thailand by nine wickets with 8.5 overs to spare at the Kinrara Oval yesterday.

The Tigresses are now in third place in the six-team table but are tied on six points with Pakistan and India, both of whom they have beaten in the tournament. They lag behind on net run-rate, but the Tigresses look in good shape for the finals as tomorrow's last league match is against Malaysia, who are languishing at the bottom of the table with four losses from four games.

Pakistan and India will play each other tomorrow, which means only one of them can finish on eight points, and even if Sri Lanka win against Thailand tomorrow, Bangladesh will be ahead if they can beat Malaysia. 

Back to the match, there was little respite for Thailand after they were asked to bat first and although they lasted 20 overs, they could only score 60 for eight. Skipper Salma Khatun was sublime with figures of six for two from four overs with her off-spin, while left-arm spinner Nahida Akter also picked up two wickets for 10 runs from four overs.

In reply, the Tigresses eclipsed the paltry score with minimal fuss, the only hiccup being opener Shamima Sultana's wicket in the third over. But it was smooth sailing thereafter, as Ayesha Rahman and Nigar Sultana hit identical 28-ball 25s in an unbroken 54-run stand to complete the clinical win.

SCORES IN BRIEF

THAILAND: 60 for 8 in 20 overs (Boochatham 15, Tippoch 13 not out, Saengsakaorat 14; Salma 2-6, Nahida 2-10)

BANGLADESH: 62 for 1 in 11.1 overs (Ayasha 25 not out, Nigar 25 not out; Sutthiruang 1-14)        

Result: Bangladesh women won by 9 wickets.

Player-of-the-match: Salma Khatun.