Women impress on their debut

Fahima Khatun (C) took two early wickets to jolt the West Indies in Bangladesh women's World T20 opener at Sylhet Cricket Stadium yesterday. The Bangladesh ladies fared better than the men's side, losing the game by 36 runs. Photo: Courtesy

When Bangladesh skipper Salma Khatun took the ball in the first over and trapped West Indies' dashing left-handed opener Kycia Knight in front on the second ball, it curiously brought to mind an oft-repeated scene -- that of off-spinner Shohag Gazi getting the better of Chris Gayle. Although not too long ago, that scene looks like a distant memory now, for the hapless state that the Bangladesh men's team are in of late.
Yesterday though, the day after Mushfiqur Rahim and co were humiliated at the hands of the West Indian men, Salma and her team lost to the women by 36 runs, but not before showing an unheralded resolve and discipline. This was Bangladesh's debut in any World Cup and the loss was expected for

they were the weakest team in the group, but the way they bowled the odd-on-favourites West Indies to a below par score of 115 and batted with a lot of intent early in the innings, deserves all the applause.
West Indies skipper Merrisa Aguilleira reserved high praise for Bangladesh's effort, especially in bowling and fielding, during the post-match press conference. "It was fantastic seeing the way they went about playing the game. To see the way they were diving and saving boundaries was amazing," said Merissa.
Salma led from the front with the ball after the visitors had decided to bat on a batting-friendly wicket. The skipper finished with figures of two for eleven while the other off-break bolwer Khadiza Tul Kubra took three for 24 and leg-spinner Fahima Khatun -- who also took two catches and effected a run-out, got two for 27. Bangladesh's fielding was commendable too as they dived around to save boundaries, took five out of the six catches they were offered and ran out two.
A score of 115 was always going to be a difficult one to chase down for Bangladesh, whose highest score in 19 Twenty20s to date is 113. Despite that they came out with some attacking intent. Salma broke the early shackle with a 17-ball 17, but got out at the wrong time with the team's score on 44 in the eleventh over. Rumana Ahmed took over the baton and attacked and an unlikely victory looked very much on the cards, with Bangladesh needing 44 from the last 32 balls with six wickets in hand. But Nuzhat Tasnia's dismissal in that over, followed by Rumana's (26) in the next, brought an early end to proceedings as Bangladesh lost their last six wickets for just seven runs, eventually folding for 79 in 17.3 overs.

SCORES IN BRIEF
WEST INDIES: 115 all out in 20 overs (Dottin 34, King 20; Kubra 3-24, Salma 2-11, Fahima 2-27)
BANGLADESH: 79 all out in 17.3 overs (Rumana 26, Salma 17; Quintyne 3-5, Smartt 2-9)
Result: West Indies won by 36 runs.
Player-of-the-match: Shaquana Quintyne (West Indies)