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Women’s World Cup: I cannot describe this in words, says Nigar Sultana after historic win

Bangladesh women’s team is keen to carry the momentum gained from the victory against Pakistan to the rest of the World Cup as they want to finish their first appearance in the tournament on high.

After being defeated to South Africa by 32 runs and 9 wickets by hosts New Zealand, Bangladesh finally opened their account with a 9-run victory against Pakistan.

Batter Fargana Hoque and legspinner Fahima Khatun scripted the victory, which is considered a stepping stone for Bangladesh women’s cricket.

Fargana made a delightful 71 as Bangladesh compiled a respectable 234-7 before Fahima’s 3-38 restricted Pakistan to 225-9. Skipper Nigar Sultana Joty made 46 and Sharmin Akhter scored 44, to contribute to the victory also.

Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana was lost for words after her team notched up a historic first-ever ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup victory against Pakistan on Monday.

“I have no words to describe the victory,” said a highly elated Bangladesh skipper Nigar Sultana. “It’s our first victory in the World Cup and we created a history. We want to carry the momentum to the rest of the tournament. From what we have seen that the spinners get advantage in the wicket here. So we hoped that we could create a chance for ourselves.”

Bangladesh won three of the last five encounters against Pakistan and so they are high on confidence, ahead of the match.

“We have played so many matches with Pakistan, so we knew them well. We also beat them in the last over in the Qualifying tournament of the World Cup some months ago. Victory always gives us confidence. We got a good team and we know how to win a match. So we want to build on this success,” she added.

Fahima Khatun who was adjudged man of the match said her only goal was to bowl wicket to wicket in a bid to strangle Pakistani batters.

“When I bowled, I was happy to repay the faith the captain and other senior players had placed in me,” Fahima said. “She [Nigar Sultana, the captain] is very involved. When she brought me in today, she said that she
believed in me, and that she expected good things from me. (She) just asked me to play normally.

“I just wanted to bowl in the right areas and bowl as many dot balls as possible, and the wickets would come. If the scoreboard pressure is there, they will give us wickets. The asking rate was 6.5-7 when I came to bowl (in
the second spell). So I just had to bowl normally, and I was successful.”

“I was trying to bowl in the blockhole in the second spell, so they couldn’t hit me over the field. I was trying to mix it up. They needed six-seven runs per over, so I was trying to give away two-three runs”.

At the World Cup, Bangladesh are playing teams they aren’t too used to playing in ODIs. While they went down to New Zealand, whom they played for the first time, they will later face Australia and England, new opponents for them.

“We haven’t played much against England, Australia and New Zealand. So we are also unknowns to them, like they are to us,” Fahima said. “This is the first time we have qualified for the World Cup. I am hoping we will get more chances going forward. Our average age and experience are low. But all of us can bat, right down to No. 10, all of us are allrounders. We have played Pakistan, India, and South Africa (before)”.

After wrapping up the game, the Bangladesh players, led by Fahima and Nahida Akhter, were seen celebrating with a gig.

“We always try to do something special when we pick up wickets… it lifts us,” Fahima said. “I feel that this win, the winning habit, is good for us for the future. Since it’s our first World Cup, we want to take back some good memories. We have worked very hard to get here. I hope this has a big impact on women’s cricket in Bangladesh.”

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