Bangladesh rue what might have been as T20 World Cup dream peters out

Match Centre and Scorecard

It had all started so well.

Bangladesh ended a decade-long wait for a win at a Women’s T20 World Cup when they opened up the tournament with victory over Scotland.

The jubilation of that result saw them push Group B favourites England hard in their second game.

And yet the second half of the group campaign feels very much like a missed opportunity to Nigar Sultana and her side, with losses to West Indies and South Africa ending any hopes that Bangladesh could make the knockout stages for the first time.

And Sultana says that the inability of the batters to maximise their output has been the team’s undoing.

“We had a very good start in the tournament how we played against Scotland,” the captain said.

“And after that game against England… our batter were actually struggling. And in the next game also. So, it's all about like, it's a visible problem. We've been struggling as a batting unit.

“Either we get a very good start in the powerplay, then we're struggling on the middle. And sometimes we couldn't finish it how it should be.”

Looking back, the disappointment for Sultana will be two-fold. Firstly that her team failed to upset one of the higher-ranked teams in the group. But also that the tournament wasn’t played on home soil at all.

The Bangladesh captain said prior to the tournament that she understood and agreed with the tournament being moved from her home country during the recovery from unrest earlier in the year. But that doesn’t stop this feeling like a missed opportunity to play in-front of packed and adoring home fans.

“Initially, we thought we were going to get the chance to host the prestigious tournament, but circumstances out of our control within Bangladesh meant this was not to be,” Sultana said on the eve of that first game against Scotland.

Playing in front of a home crowd at an ICC Women’s T20 World Cup is a dream very few cricketers will get to experience. We felt very fortunate to be lined up as the host nation and when arrangements were forced to change, it hit the team hard.

“It was a disappointment not just to us, but our family, friends and the fans, who were all making plans to watch us on home soil.”

There are positives for Bangladesh though, not least the form of Sultana herself, who at 27 years old should have plenty more opportunities to appear at major ICC event.

Sultana has kept well behind the stumps and made at least double-figure contributions with the bat in all four group games, leaving her at four in the leading run-scorers charts for the tournament at the end of Saturday’s games – behind only South African opening pair Tazmin Brits and Laura Wolvaardt, and her own teammate Sobhana Mostary.

“I think I have to mention a few players name definitely because there are a lot of (good) individual performances, even though we couldn't get a combined team performance.

“I think Subhana played very well throughout the tournament she's been consistent for the team.

“I think I should mention about Ritu Munia, how she bowled, and Fahima has been excellent for the team, I think all these spinners have done their job.

“And specifically I have to mention I think Marufa (Akter), who bowled really well in the powerplay.”

Mostary, 22, and Marufa Akter, 19, are among a number of exciting young prospects in the Bangladesh squad, who will now turn their attention towards the Women’s Cricket World Cup, which is set to be held in India in 2025.