History beckons for Tigresses in South Africa
The Tigresses, led by an inspirational Nigar Sultana, beat the hosts by 119 runs in the first ODI. In terms of runs, it was their biggest ODI win.
After beating South Africa for the first time away from home, Bangladesh women's team will look to create more history when they take on Laura Wolvaardt's side at the Senwes Park in Potchefstroom on Wednesday.
The Tigresses, led by an inspirational Nigar Sultana, beat the hosts by 119 runs in the first ODI. In terms of runs, it was their biggest ODI win.
It was an almost perfect game for the tourists. They registered a strong performance with the bat and later backed it up by a superb bowling effort led by the in-form left-arm spinner Nahida Akter.
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Nahida was adjudged the Player of the Month for November and the spinner continued to excel across formats and has established herself as one of the rising spinners in the world, ranked 16th in ODIs.
The leg-spinning duo of the experienced Fahima Khatun and the young Rabeya Khan shared four wickets for 40 runs in 13 overs to tie down South Africa in the first ODI. The combination of Nahida's left-arm spin and the duo's leg-spin provides variety in the bowling front.
Sultana Khatun has been carrying out the off-spinning duties and was the one who got rid of the South African captain Wolvaardt in the first match. Much has been spoken about the impact of speedster Marufa Akter.
Murshida Khatun was named the Player of the Match in the first ODI for her career-best 91* off 100 deliveries. Nigar has been in decent form with the bat as well. Fargana Hoque was nominated for the Player of the Month award last month. Youngster Shorna Akter has been an all-round match-winner.
The ongoing series is mighty important for Bangladesh in order to ensure direct qualification for the next World Cup. Currently, they are 7th in the ICC Women's Championship table and need to be in the top six at the end of the cycle to play the World Cup directly.
If they win the series, they will break into the top six and for now, that's the main focus for captain Nigar.
"These two points are really important. For both the teams, the next two matches are crucial. We don't want to play the qualification round," Nigar said after the first match.
2023 has been a prolific year for the Tigresses and their captain said it was all the result of hard work and self-belief.
"We have been working hard for a long time. The belief has grown in the team. The team management has put in a lot of work as well. We were waiting for a good result. It feels great when we get the expected result," she said.
