Unable to make opportunities count, Bangladesh ended the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup with only one notable achievement as they managed to end a decade-long wait for a win in the competition when they notched up a 16-run victory in the tournament opener against Scotland in Sharjah earlier this month.
However, that was it for the Nigar Sultana Joty-led side, who crashed out of the competition following a seven-wicket loss against South Africa in Dubai on Saturday.
To Joty, the problem is quite apparent.
“We had a very good start in the tournament against Scotland,” the captain said.
“And after that game against England… our batters were struggling. And in the next game also. So, it’s all about [batting], it’s a visible problem. We’ve been struggling as a batting unit.
“Either we get a very good start in the Powerplay, or we’re struggling in the middle. And sometimes we couldn’t finish it.”
Bangladesh’s accumulation of 119 for seven against Scotland remained their highest in the tournament — a fact that drives home the point that Joty wanted to make.
The Tigresses did have the opportunity to upset the second-ranked T20I team England, and they were able to put some pressure on their opponents by restricting a strong batting line-up to 118 for seven. They, however, ended up losing by a convincing margin when none other than Sobhana Mostary and skipper Joty managed to get to double figures.
Looking back, the missed opportunity of not being able to upset one of the higher-ranked teams in the group will only be coupled with the disappointment of not playing the tournament on their own turf after it had been moved to the UAE due to the unrest created back home following the student-led mass movement that toppled the previous government.
“It was a disappointment not just for us, but our family, friends, and the fans, who were all making plans to watch us on home soil,” Joty had said ahead of the Scotland game.
There are positives for the Tigresses though. Joty became the first Bangladeshi woman cricketer to get to 2000 T20I runs during a loss to the West Indies that put them on the brink of elimination before the South Africa loss that ensured it.
Joty was left at four in the leading run-scorers charts after the end of Saturday’s games while left-arm spinner Nahida Aket became the first to the milestone of 100 T20I wickets in the Scotland game.
Joty did praise her teammates, mentioning the efforts of Sobhana, Ritu Moni, and Fahima Khatun but at the end of the day, she was still left ruing the lack of a ‘combined team performance’ that could have made the difference.
