Record score not enough for Tigresses

Nigar Sultana and Salma Khatun hit some good boundaries after an early hiccup to help the Bangladesh women's cricket team score their best T20 total but it was not good enough to avoid a 36-run defeat against England in their second match of the Women's World T20 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore yesterday.

After a 72-run defeat against India in the opening game, Bangladesh showed some character in the second game and can take a lot of heart from the way they challenged their strong opponents after losing a few early wickets in chase of a 154-run winning target.

Salma and Nigar struck boundaries quite regularly and added a record 64 runs for the fifth wicket. Nigar hit the only six of the innings during her 28-ball 35 that also featured four boundaries while Salma struck four boundaries in her 30-ball 32 as Bangladesh finished their 20-over quota on 117 for six.

"It's a good score for us, we lost but it's encouraging. We lost some wickets but Salma and Joty [Nigar Sultana] 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," said Bangladesh captain Jahanara Alam in post-match presentation, who took three wickets.

For England, Charlotte Edwards led from the front as her 51-ball 60 set up England's easy win. She struck seven fours before her bowlers restricted Bangladesh.

Bangladesh will play their next match against West Indies on March 20.

SCORES IN BRIEF
ENGLAND: 153 for 7 (Edwards 60, Sciver 27; Jahanara 3-32)
BANGLADESH: 117 for 6 (Nigar 35, Salma 32, Farjana 19, Rumana 19; Shrubsole 2-27) 
Result: England won by 36 runs.