Bowlers come to the party as Bangladesh end ten-year wait in Sultana’s 100th T20I

Bangladesh 119 for 7 (Mostary 36, Rani 29; Horley 3-13) beat Scotland 103 for 7 (Sarah Bryce 49*, Moni 2-15) by 16 runs

An unwanted 16-match, decade-long losing streak in T20 World Cups has come to an end in the form of a first tournament match win away from home for Bangladesh, in one they were meant to be hosting. Their victory in the first match of the women’s T20 World Cup 2024 was layered, and at times laboured, eventually besting Scotland by 16 runs.

It was a gritty affair in Sharjah, and a chastening experience for Scotland, making their first appearance in a World Cup. They managed just five of the 15 boundaries struck between both teams.

Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana, playing in her 100th T20I, was right to bat after winning the toss. The logic of having first use of a fresh pitch, and using draining temperatures – a high of 38°C – to sap the energy of the team fielding first was sound.

The application, however, was far from smooth. They had to do a lot of running to post their total of 119 for 9, with Shathi Rani‘s 29 and 36 from Sobhana Mostary – both career-bests in the format – the most noteworthy contributions.

Rani’s dismissal – the second wicket – was the first of six to fall in 49 deliveries for just 50 runs. Offspinning allrounder Saskia Horley was the main beneficiary of this cascade, pocketing her best T20I figures of 3 for 13, having only been brought into the attack in the 18th over. But with Fahima Khatun‘s 10 off 5 – the only batter to post a double-figure score at a strike rate greater than 100 – Bangladesh were at least able to ask Scotland to chase a run-a-ball score.

It did not take long for the run rate to escalate, compounded by the loss of Kathryn Bryce – bowled by an inducker from Marufa Afkter that kept low – to make it 31 for 2 at the end of the powerplay. Ritu Moni‘s wily medium pacers kept Scotland in check, and she finished her four overs with 2 for 15, by which point Scotland required 38 from the final three overs.

Any hope of getting those rested on an exhausted Sarah Bryce. The keeper-batter should have been dismissed on 29, running past a delivery from Rabeya Khan and then somehow reclaiming her ground after Sultana had first missed the original take behind the stumps, and then botched the second attempt in front of them.

A further life came on 38 when her straight heave was dropped in the penultimate over by a diving Rabeya, who made amends three balls later to remove Katherine Fraser for Nahida Akter‘s 100th T20I wicket. Aged 24 years and 215 days, the left-arm spinner is the second-youngest to reach the milestone, after England’s Sophie Ecclestone.

Sarah finished unbeaten on 49, though not before a third reprieve at cover. That she could only manage one boundary from her 52 deliveries spoke to a broader issue that left Scotland well short of their opponents.

Rani and Mostary set the foundation

It was at the start of the 12th over of Bangladesh’s innings that the charge was on.

At 60 for 1, the stage had been steadily built by Rani and Mostary, a union that began midway through the fifth over. The latter had scored the two boundaries on a stand that had reached 38 at the time, with the former having made use of the fielding restrictions in the first six overs to heave over mid-on and slash beyond point for her two. But when Rani skipped down the track to launch Katherine Fraser over mid-off, it was clear Bangladesh were looking to hit the game beyond Scotland’s reach.

Alas, Rani would fall four balls later, attempting to clear midwicket, before Mostary was stumped at the start of the 16th, having got herself in a funk that had already resulted in the run out of Taj Nehar. Scotland, to their credit, had kept a leash on matters, operating solely with spin 11 overs from the conclusion of the fifth, enticing errors in the process.

But the endeavour to find the ropes did at least keep Bangladesh’s innings moving, as they came within a run of doubling their score in the final eight overs, despite only striking four more boundaries.

Fahima makes an impact

Low-scoring matches mean that small contributions have a big impact. And few had a more profound effect on this match than the cameos from Fahima in all three facets.

Her brace of fours – both lifted over short fine – ensured Bangladesh found the 16 runs that would eventually be the difference between the two sides. After her first delivery of legspin extracted extra bounce to find an edge from Saskia Horley, only to be grassed by Sultana behind the stumps, she slowed it down outside off to drag Horley out of her crease and allowed her captain to redeem herself with a stumping two balls later.

But perhaps her biggest moment came in the 15th over. With 50 required from 35 deliveries, Darcy Carter struck arguably the cleanest hit, crunching Moni for what most of the ball’s flight looked like being the first six of the match. Had that come to pass, the complexion of the final throes would have morphed, perhaps into the beginnings of an all-time Scotland victory.

Fahima killed that story dead, racing the ball to the fence, tracking it over her shoulder and taking a tumbling catch within a whisker of the sponge. In a match of seven drops, the 31-year-old was the exception – and exceptional.

Sarah Bryce’s 40-over game

The late switch of the tournament from Bangladesh to the UAE has thrown many a team’s plans into the unknown. Even the market leaders of women’s cricket – Australia, England and India – are working things on the fly, having never played an international here.

Learnings will be taken from anywhere and everywhere, and perhaps the first comes in the form of Scotland’s Sarah Bryce. Having crouched behind the stumps for 20 overs during the hottest part of the day, the keeper-batter then spent the next 20 scuttling between them in a valiant innings that left her visibly drained.

It spoke to her fitness and bloody-mindedness that she was still running twos by the end – four in the final five deliveries of the innings. That she should have been out three times came with a sense of cruelty – a dismissal would have at least given her some deserved respite as the chase circled the drain.

As one of Scotland’s major players, it highlighted the need for teams to protect their assets in these conditions. With two of Scotland’s three remaining matches occupying the same time slot, there may be cause to shift her down the order to better preserve her energy and talents.

Kathryn Bryce makes history

It was more by accident than design that Kathryn Bryce took Scotland’s first wicket at a T20 World Cup. It should have belonged to Olivia Bell; the offspinner did not feature in the qualifiers but looked set to etch herself in the history books as a clothed flick from Murshida Khatun drifted towards midwicket. Rachel Slater’s drop was perhaps the worst of three in the first innings.

Halfway through the next over, Murshida was snared down the ground, Katherine Fraser taking a high catch moving to her right from mid-on. And with that, Kathryn, Scotland’s talismanic skipper, had another line for a CV that is spilling over into the second page.

On Tuesday, she was showered with awards at the PCA do for her performances during the English season. Among her four gongs was becoming the first non-English cricketer to be named women’s Player of the Year.

That Kathryn was named the ICC’s associate women’s player of the decade for 2011 to 2020 despite making her T20I debut in 2018 says all that needs to be said about her standing, which has now been reinforced.

Vithushan Ehantharajah is an associate editor at ESPNcricinfo

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