History repeats itself: Tigresses repeat the same feat Men's team achieved in 1999

Bangladesh men's team made their first appearance in the 50-over World Cup in 1999 and got their first win in their third match against Scotland. 23 years later, the women's team repeated the feat by bagging their maiden World Cup victory in their third match.

Not only that, the men's team beat Pakistan in their maiden World Cup and the women's team emulated the feat. The win has come in the month of March, one of the most significant months in Bangladesh's history as a nation, which makes the win even sweeter. They say, 'history repeats itself' and that's exactly what happened on Monday at Seddon Park in Hamilton.

Bangladesh women's team, in their maiden 50-over World Cup, lost their first two matches against South Africa and New Zealand but for sure gave the two teams a run for their money. The Tigresses couldn't quite capitalise on a terrific bowling performance against South Africa. They were off to flying start in the powerplay, making good use of the field restrictions in a rain-curtailed game but the hosts New Zealand were too strong for them.

In the third game, Nigar Sultana and co were up against Pakistan, a team they know very well. Bangladesh beat Pakistan in a close encounter in the World Cup qualifiers in Harare last year and in fact they had won two out of the last three encounters against Pakistan.

But it was the World Cup, the biggest stage where Pakistan played four times before and here were Bangladesh, playing for the first time. Experience matters a lot in such matches but Bangladesh managed to trump Pakistan's experience by sheer passion and hardwork. As Fahima Khatun said, "We always look forward to winning whenever we play Pakistan and we feel a different sort of hunger to win while playing against them."

Pakistan succumbed to an 18th consecutive loss, though, in World Cups but even until the 48th over, a Pakistan loss seemed quite unlikely. 

It was Pakistan's game to lose for the most part. They were on course to win the match when they needed 52 off 8.1 overs with eight wickets in hand. They had the centurion Sidra Ameen in the middle who looked solid as ever, standing firmly between Bangladesh and the win. But Fahima Khatun got rid of Omaima Sohail, Aliya Riaz and Fatima Sana in the space of two overs to turn the game on its head. 

What Bangladesh did well was to put pressure on Pakistan. They dropped a few catches but the ever-increasing required run rate gave the Tigresses an upper hand. Fahima acknowledged the fact in the post-match press conference, saying, "When I came into bowl, the required run rate was around 6.5 or 7. Yes, we missed a few catches but because of the good work later on, we could make up for the errors."

Fahima was well-supported by Rumana Ahmed, another leg-break bowler. She broke the dangerous opening partnership [yielding 91 runs] in the 24th over and got the important wicket of Nida Dar in the final phase of the match. Remember, she was the player of the match when Bangladesh last met Pakistan.

Don't forget the batting. 234 for seven was Bangladesh women's team's highest-ever total in ODIs. They were once again off to a pretty quick start, scoring 51 for one in the first ten overs. Sharmin Akter, who was dropped in the previous match, returned with a fine 44 off 55.

Fargana Haque top-scored with 71 and she got support from her captain Nigar who scored 46 off 64 showing a great display of rotation of strike. Their partnership of 96 off 20.4 overs was the prime reason why Bangladesh could post 234.

In such matches, little contributions can make a huge difference. Captain Nigar was right in pointing out the value of Salma Khatun's spell. She gave away 29 off nine overs and got the wicket of the hard-hitting Diana Baig.

"I cannot describe this in words. This is our first-ever win in World Cups. History we have made today. We are looking forward to carrying this momentum throughout the tournament," said Nigar. Bangladesh's semi-final hopes are still alive after the win and if they can carry this momentum, then who knows?