Batters responded well: Joty
Bangladesh skipper Nigar Sultana Joty praised her batters' performance after their seven-wicket win over Pakistan in the final ODI of the three-match series at the at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur on Friday.
The win gave the Tigresses a 2-1 series win and propelled them to sixth on the ICC Women's Championships standings.
The top six teams on the table will qualify for the 2025 World Cup directly, while the other two spots will be filled through qualifiers, in the eight-team tournament which will take place in India.
Bangladesh have 11 points from 12 matches, with three wins, a solitary tie, four losses and as many no results.
"We are moving ahead keeping in mind that we want to avoid playing in the [World Cup] qualifiers. The more points we can collect, the better our chances will become to play the tournament directly. Our focus is just that going into every series," skipper Nigar Sultana Joty told the reporters after the game yesterday.
A poor batting display let Bangladesh down in the opening match last week when they were bundled out for 81, while bowlers bailed them out in the second match where they posted 169. The batters finally showed up yesterday as a record 125-run opening partnership for Bangladesh from Murshida Khatun and Fargana Haque set up a 167-run chase.
Fargana scored a 113-ball 62 as she put away five fours while Musrshida hit six boundaries during her 106-ball 54. Both, however, couldn't see their team through as the services of skipper Joty were required. She scored a 25-ball 18 and was aptly aided by Sobhana Mostary's 30-ball 19 as the duo wrapped it up for Bangladesh.
"The batting department responded well. In the previous match, Pakistan struggled to chase a small total but the same did not happen today which is why we clinched an easy victory," Joty said.
"The way Murshida and Pinky were playing, I think they should've finished the match. They were at the wicket for a long time and our plan is for set batters to always play as long as possible.
"The first match was indeed alarming for us. The biggest thing for us is the series win, it is a big achievement for us. The show of character from the entire team is a huge success," she added.
The Bangladesh bowlers did the job again for their side, restricting the visitors to 166 for nine.
Pakistan's opener Sidra Ameen scored an unbeaten 143-ball 84 but had little support as Bangladesh's left-arm orthodox Nahida Akter outshone the four other spinners in the side, picking up three wickets for 26 runs, while Rabeya Khan scalped two.