Bangladesh qualify for Women’s T20 World Cup with win over Ireland in semifinals

Sensible batting by Sanjida Islam after tremendous bowling performance have earned Bangladesh the ticket to the 2020 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup with a 4-wicket win over Ireland.

Bangladesh will now face Papua New Guinea or Thailand in the final next Saturday after the win at Dundee in Scotland on Thursday. The two finalists will qualify for the final round.

Bangladesh bowlers exerted pressure on Ireland in the beginning after Salma Khatun won the toss and chose to field first.

Nahida Akter sent back Gaby Lewis, caught by Fargana Hoque, in the second over.

Jahanara Alam struck in the next over, taking out the other Irish opener Mary Waldron.

Ireland were all out for 85 thanks to a 17-ball innings of 25 by Eimear Richardson.

Fahima Khatun took 3 wickets while Ritu Moni, Jahanara, Salma and Nahida claimed one each.

Openers Murshida Khatun (13) and Ayasha Rahman (7) gave the Tigresses a good start in the chase of 86 for the win, taking the team to the fifth over.

But after the opening stand of the low-scoring match broke at 21 with the fall of Murshida, loss of wickets in quick succession put Bangladesh in trouble. Kim Garth took the wicket of Murshida, caught by Richardson.   

Nigar Sultana, Fargana and Fahima Khatun were out after scoring 2, 1 and 0 runs respectively.

Sanjida, on the other end of the wicket, continued without fuss. With the assistance of Ritu (15 off 27), she added 32 runs to the team’s scoreline and took the team though to the win with 4 wickets and 9 balls to spare.

Brief Scores: Ireland Women (85 all out in 20 overs - Eimear Richardson 25, Laura Delany 25; Fahima Khatun 3-18) lose to Bangladesh Women (86 for 6 in 18.3 overs - Sanjida Islam 32*, Ritu Moni 15; Orla Prendergast 2-11) by 4 wickets.