Women’s T20 Asia Cup wrap: Bangladesh stun India

Bangladesh achieved their first ever victory against India when they beat their neighbours by seven wickets in their Women’s T20 Asia Cup clash in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday.

India posted 141/7 after opting to bat, with Harmanpreet Kaur scoring a 37-ball 42 to propel the innings. However, Bangladesh recovered from 49/3 and reached 142/3 to complete the chase with two balls remaining.

It was Bangladesh’s second consecutive victory. They had seen off Pakistan by seven wickets on Monday, having lost their opener to Sri Lanka.

For India, the loss was their first in the tournament, coming after comfortable victories Malaysia and Thailand.

India were reduced to 26/2 after Smriti Mandhana (11) and Mithali Raj (2) were sent back early, but Pooja Vastrakar and Kaur revived the innings with a 44-run stand.

Kaur went on to add 50 with Deepti Sharma, after Vastrakar was run out for a run-a-ball 20, but fell eight short of a half-century when Ahmed, the leg-spinner, dismissed her.

Ahmed followed it up with the wickets of Sharma (32) and Anuja Patil (1) and was also involved in running out Jhulan Goswami (4) as India were kept to 141. Ahmed ended with fine figures of 3/21.

The Bangladesh openers got their chase off to a solid start, putting on 29 before Ayasha Rahman (12) was seen off by Rajeshwari Gayakwad. Shamima Sultaana carried on to score a 23-ball 33, but when she and Nigar Sultana were dismissed in quick succession, Bangladesh were 49/3 in the eighth over.

However, Hoque and Ahmed then got together to see the chase through. Hoque’s 46-ball 52* was laced with five fours and six, while Ahmed’s 36-ball 42* comprised six fours.

Bangladesh will next play Thailand on Thursday, before India’s clash against Sri Lanka.

Pakistan edge Sri Lanka for vital win

Bismah Maroof’s unbeaten half-century and a career-best 5/21 from Nida Dar helped Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by 23 runs in the Women’s T20 Asia Cup on Wednesday in Kuala Lumpur.

After being asked to bat by Sri Lanka, Pakistan, spurred by captain Maroof’s 41-ball 60* and Nahida Khan’s 38 in 34 balls, put up a competitive total of 136/4.

In reply, Sri Lanka could only manage 113/9 in their quota of overs as off-spinner Dar led the demolition job. There were two run outs in the Sri Lanka innings, while Maroof picked up the other wicket.

Dar took out three of the top five Sri Lanka batters – Yasoda Mendis (25) and Nipuni Hansika (24), the openers, as well as Anushka Sanjeewani (11).

When Sanjeewani was dismissed after being caught by Anam Amin, Sri Lanka were 67/3 in 12 overs, needing a further 70 runs off 48 balls.

Pakistan effected two run outs thereafter, of Hasini Perera and Rebeca Vandort, and Maroof chipped in with the wicket of Oshadi Ranasinghe to reduce their opponents to 86/6 in the 16th over, a position from which Sri Lanka could not recover.

Earlier, Pakistan lost opening bat Muneeba Ali early in their innings and were 16/1 in the sixth over, but Khan and Maroof got together for a 60-run second-wicket partnership to lay a strong foundation.

After Khan was dismissed lbw by de Silva in the 12th over, with the total 76/2, Maroof was joined by Javeria Khan (13) and they added 40 runs in just 4.4 overs to take Pakistan past the 100-run mark.

Maroof hit seven fours in her innings and scored at an impressive strike rate of 146.34. Although she received little support from Dar (3) and Nain Abidi (7), Pakistan got to a decent score, which proved too many for Sri Lanka.

Pakistan and Sri Lanka have both now won two of their three games, but Sri Lanka are placed above Pakistan on the points table because of a superior net run rate.

Thailand breeze past Malaysia

An excellent performance on the field set up a straightforward nine-wicket win for Thailand over Malaysia in their Women’s T20 Asia Cup match in Kuala Lumpur.

Batting first after winning the toss, Malaysia, who had lost their first two games to India and Sri Lanka respectively, lasted their 20 overs but managed to put up just 36/8.

The innings progressed at 1.8 runs per over, and none of the batters went into double-digits, with Sasha Azmi’s 9* from No.8 the highest score of the innings. Interestingly, Azmi hit the only boundary of the innings too.

Wickets started falling early, with Yusrina Yaakop dismissed lbw by Chanida Sutthiruang, the medium pacer, off the first ball of the innings.

It never looked up for Malaysia, who had been bowled out for a similarly poor 27 by India in their first game but showed some improvement in getting to 46/7 against Sri Lanka in their last match.

The wickets were shared between five Thailand bowlers, Wongpaka Liengprasert, the off-spinner, the most successful with 2/10.

The chase should have been a simple one and it was even though Azmi struck in the fourth over to send back Nattakan Chantam lbw. But with not too much pressure on them, Naruemol Chaiwai (20*) and Sirintra Saengsakaorat (8*) took Thailand to 37/1 in just nine overs.

The win gave Thailand their first points after losses to Pakistan and India earlier in the tournament, while Malaysia, the hosts, remained at the bottom.

Malaysia next play Pakistan, while Thailand square off against Bangladesh, both games scheduled for Thursday.