Bangladesh emerged Group A champions with all-win record to reach the ‘Trophy’ semifinal of the ICC Women’s World T20 Qualifiers outplaying Papua New Guinea (PNG) by 41 runs in the last group match at the Asian Institute of Technology ground in Bangkok on Tuesday. In the trophy semifinals, Bangladesh Women’s team will play the Group B runners-up Zimbabwe Women’s team at 9am (BST) while Group B champions Ireland will face Group A runners-up Scotland at 12:45 pm (BST), both at the Terdthai Cricket Stadium in Bangkok on Thursday. In the shield semifinals, PNG will meet Netherlands at 9am while hosts Thailand will encounter China at 12:45pm, both at the Asian Institute of Technology ground in Bangkok, also on Thursday. Replying to Bangladesh’s 100 runs for 7 in the day’s match, Papua New Guinea were bundled out for 59 runs in 15.5 overs against devastating bowling by spinner Khadija Tul Kubra, who grabbed five wickets for 11 runs in 4 overs. Later, she was adjudged player of the match. Veru Frank scored an unbeaten 13 runs off 19 balls with one four while opener Tanya Ruma made 12 runs off 22 balls with one boundary. Apart from Khadija’s five-wicket haul, Rumana Ahmed grabbed three wickets for 13 runs in 4 overs while Jahanara Alam and Lata Mondal bagged one wicket apiece conceding 10 runs each. Earlier sent in to bat first, Bangladesh scored 100 off 7 in 20 overs with Fargana Hoque making the match highest 28 runs off 30 balls with three fours. Nigar Sultana (14 off 18b), Ritu Moni (not out 13 off 12b) and Jahanara Alam (not out 10 off 4b) were the other major contributors for Bangladesh. Kari Seura captured two wickets for 2 runs, Ravina Oa, Veru Frank, Kaia Arua and Sibona Jimmy took one wicket each conceding 10, 12, 14 and 25 runs respectively. After the group matches, Bangladesh topped the Group A list with all-win record securing full six points from three matches while Scotland finished group runners-up securing four points from three group matches, with two wins and one defeat. Papua New Guinea (PNG) finished 3rd in the group bagging 2 points from 3 matches with 1 win and 2 losses while all-losers hosts Thailand finished at bottom without any point. Final standings after group matches: Group-A : Teams M W L Pts Bangladesh 3 3 0 6 Scotland 3 2 1 4 PNG 3 1 2 2 Thailand 3 0 3 0. Group B : Teams M W L Pts Ireland 3 3 0 6 Zimbabwe 3 2 1 4 China 3 1 2 2 Netherlands 3 0 3 0 —– Dhaka, Dec 1 (UNB)
