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Bowlers come to the party as Bangladesh end ten-year wait in Sultana’s 100th T20I
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. Victory for Bangladesh in the first match of the women’s T20 World Cup 2024 was layered, and at times laboured, as they eventually bested 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 Sharjah 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 Mostray – 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. Off-spinning allrounder Sasika 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 when dropped 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.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh Women 119 for 7 in 20 overs (Sobhana Mostary 36, Shathi Rani 29; Saskia Horley 3-13, Kathryn Bryce 1-23, Olivia Bell 1-23, Kathryn Fraser 1-23) beat Scotland Women 103 for 7 in 20 overs (Sarah Bryce 49*, Ritu Moni 2-15, Marufa Akter 1-17, Nashida Akter 1-19, Fahima Khatun 1-21, Rabeya Khan 1-20, ) by 16 runs
[Cricinfo]
“Obviously, it depends on the team management… what we plan to do in this match. That is a different thing. But I think it is a very thin line between trying to give somebody an opportunity and you being unfair to some other player.”
Seattle Orcas had won just one of their first three games in MLC 2026, but it all came together beautifully for them against Washington Freedom on Thursday. The 88-run win was enough for them to jump straight to No. 2 on the points table, behind the unbeaten Los Angeles Knight Riders.
Orcas got the sort of start they wanted, reaching 59 for no loss after the powerplay even as they slowed down to get to 79 for 2 at the halfway stage. But then they really turned in on thanks to Shimron Hetmyer and Marcus Stoinis. Matthew Breetzke had given the innings some momentum in partnership with Hetmyer, but when Breetzke got out in the 15th over, Orcas were solid without being spectacular at 138 for 3. Around 200 was expected, but not the 227 they got.
And that was down to Stoinis, their captain. Hetmyer was already on 44 off 20 balls and got to his half-century off 24 deliveries soon after, but Stoinis almost caught up with Hetmyer in a blaze of sixes. He hit five of them in one over, the 17th, bowled by medium pacer Ian Holland. From 4 off six balls, Stoinis was on 34 off 12, and though there was another big one in the next over, bowled by Marco Jansen, Stoinis fell for 42 off 16 deliveries the next ball.
Hetmyer, meanwhile, left it till the last over, which started with Orcas on 208 for 5. Jack Edwards was the bowler, and Hetmyer went 6, 6, 6 off the first three balls. That was enough to take Orcas to a huge total, and for Hetmyer to finish on 79 not out off 33 balls.
With that many runs to chase down, Freedom needed a solid start. Instead, they were 42 for 5 after the powerplay, having lost most of the big guns: Steven Smith, Mitchell Owen, Andries Gous, Glenn Maxwell and Edwards. Jasdeep Singh had four of the five wickets, including three in his second over – the fifth of the innings – where he got Gous first ball, Maxwell off the next, and Edwards off the fifth. Smith was already in the bag from his first over, and Jasdeep came back in the 14th to complete his five-for with Jansen’s wicket.
At one point, it looked like the record for the biggest victory margin (by runs) in MLC – currently 123 from when San Francisco Unicorns beat Freedom last season – would be broken. That it wasn’t was thanks to runs from Freedom’s Nos. 8, 9 and 10. Amila Aponso top-scored for Freedom with 31 not out from 13 balls from No. 10, and the men before him, Holland and Jansen, contributed 46 from 39 deliveries between them.
The latest defeat, their second in three games, left Freedom at the bottom of the table.
Scores:
Seattle Orcas 227 for 6 in 20 overs (Tim Seifert 37, Shayan Jahangir22, matthew Breetzket 32, Shimron Hetmyer 79*, Marcus Stoinis 42, Ali Sheikh 11; Marco Jansen 3-33, jack Edwards 1-56, Ian Holland 2-49) beat Washington Freedom 139 in 16.2 overs (Andries Gous 18.Obus Pienaar 10, Marco Jansen 20, Ian Holland 26, Amila Aponso 31*; Marcus Stoinis 1-20, Jasdeep Singh 5-24, ottneil Baartman 1-11, Cameron Gannon 2-16, Harmeet Singh 1-40) by 88 runs
[Cricinfo]
Over 40 persons have been injured (some critically) as two buses one travelling from Galle to Ampara and the other from Tangalle to Matara crashed head on at Talalla Matara this morning.
The injured have been admitted to the Matara General Hospital and Bathhegama District Hospital.
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