Jahanara Alam asks fans to keep the faith after defeat

They were bowled out for 72 by Sri Lanka in St Lucia on Wednesday, making it the third match in a row that Bangladesh’s batting folded for under 100. This, after Sri Lanka had been kept to 97/7.

"We restricted them to 98, this was a good total to chase, and we have a good batting side,” Alam said afterwards. “I am very disappointed we couldn’t click with the bat.”

With the top four sides of each group automatically entering the ICC Women’s World T20 in 2020, the loss dented one of Bangladesh’s aims of avoiding the qualifiers the next time around.

“We had a goal that we don’t want to play any more T20 qualifiers,” a disappointed Alam said. “But we still have a chance to increase our rankings if we win against South Africa. Who knows, something can happen, cricket is an unpredictable game.”

Bangladesh close out their campaign with that game against South Africa on Sunday, and need a win to have any chance of not finishing bottom of the group.