ICC Women World Cup 2022: Need to play more matches to learn – Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana

Bangladesh Women captain Nigar Sultana admitted that they need to play more matches to learn at the top level after playing their last league stage match of the ODI showpiece against England. Bangladesh suffered a huge loss of 100 runs against the defending champions at the Basin Reserve, Wellington on Sunday.

This was the first time when Bangladesh was participating in the ICC Women World Cup and they were able to register their first win of the tournament against Pakistan. Bangladesh spinners were able to impress but there is no doubt that their batting needs a lot of improvement to compete at the International level.

Bangladesh did a decent job in restricting England at 234 after Heather Knight won the toss and decided to bat first. However, Nigar Sultana-led team couldn’t get going in the run-chase as they were skittled out for 134 runs. In fact, four of Bangladesh batters went past the 20-run mark but none of them could convert their respective starts into substantial scores.

Nigar Sultana said in the post-match presentation, “Lack of partnerships. How we started, we couldn’t reach our goals. Wicket was very good. If we could play till the end and top-order could play 30-35 overs we could finish it. Happy with some individual efforts in the tournament. Need to play more matches to learn more. We came here to explore. Gained lot of experience. Back home a lot of young girls are coming in. They want to play for Bangladesh. After the WC it’ll be more.”

On the other hand, Sophia Dunkley played a match-winning knock of 67 runs and helped her team post a fighting score of 234 runs. She was awarded the Player of the match for her fine batting show.

She said after the game, “It was definitely not easy to get in. The bowlers started really well and bowled really well but I think me and Amy just thought to dig in there, get a partnership and set a platform. I have got a few starts and it was nice to make a bigger contribution today. It was a little bit slow and the pacers bowled well on it, our talk was about building a partnership and seeing where we are at the back end. I am loving it. It has been great, sometimes it is hard to remember you are in a WC and it is a childhood dream. Our main job was to get the job done today. Really looking forward to the semifinal.”

The defending champions will take on South Africa in the semifinal clash at the Hagley Oval, Christchurch on Thursday.