BSS, Dhaka :
As it was promised, Bangladesh Women’s team created a history, beating Pakistan by 9 runs, clinching their first victory in the ICC Women’s World Cup at Seddon Park, Hamilton in New Zealand on Monday.
The victory was exactly a reminiscence of the men’s team triumph in their first World Cup appearance in 1999 in England, when they beat Pakistan to announce their arrival in the world cricket.
Bangladesh women’s team took the same route to carve their own niche but the only difference was when men’s team’s win was one of the biggest World Cup upsets, the women’s team almost beat Pakistan by announcing it to the rest of the world.
Ahead of this clash, Bangladesh won the three of last five encounters between the two teams. So there was a sense of belief in the Bangladeshi tent even though they lost the rain-hit warm-up game to Pakistan some days ago by 7 runs in D/L method.
But in the tournament proper, Bangladesh played like a red-hot favourite to beat the subcontinent rivals.
Fargana Hoque and Fahima Khatun were the architects of the epic victory, contributing handsomely in batting and bowling respectively.
While Fargana’s impeccable 79, her second successive half-century in the tournament anchored Bangladesh’s innings, Fahima claimed 3-38 with her wily leg-spin to scythe down the Pakistan batters. Their performance made Pakistan opener Sidra Ameen’s classy 104-run knock a futile one.
Pakistan’s decision to put Bangladesh in batting came as a blessing in disguise for the Tigress as batting second in Hamilton is always a favoured option for the team. But the Tigresses were in beast mood, racking up a respectable 234-7 before restricting Pakistan to 225-9.
Pakistan now remain without an ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup victory in 13 years, while Bangladesh celebrated a major milestone in their development after an impressive all-round display.
Bangladesh made a decent start, with Shamima Sultana and Sharmin Akhter making 37-run for the opening stand. Shamima was the first to fall for 17, bringing Fargana to the crease.
They shared a 42-run partnership to keep the side driving but Sharmin was dismissed against the play after making 44 off 55 with six fours.
The dismissal inspired Pakistan to claw back into the game but their euphoria turned into despair when Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana came up with a spectacular counterattack, making the Pakistan bowlers disarray.
With Fargana playing with as usual unwavering resolve, Pakistan found it tough to make any impact.
The Bangladeshi duo took the Pakistan bowlers in disdain, sharing a match- winning 96-run partnership for the third wicket stand. Fatima Sana brought an end to the partnership, getting rid of Nigar for 46 and that triggered a sensational collapse as Bangladesh lost the rest of the seven wickets for 55 runs.
But Nigar-Fargana partnership kept Bangladesh aloft. Fargana clobbered five fours for his 71 off 115.
