Dominant Tigresses open account with victory

Bangladesh opened their Women's T20 World Cup campaign with a six-wicket win over the Netherlands, with Juairiya Ferdous' half-century setting the foundation for a successful chase of 140.

The Netherlands posted 139 for 8 batting first, but Bangladesh's spinners kept a firm grip throughout, and Dutch captain Babette de Leede acknowledged the gap in experience told.

"Bangladesh have been at World Cups before. You could tell, they play as a unit, as a machine really. And yeah, for us it's all new," she said.

Juairiya explained the mindset she carried into the chase. "Since we were bowling first, when we saw that the target was 140, we felt that we needed to bat with a very good strike rate. As an opening batter, it was very important for us to make good use of the powerplay. My aim was to score as many runs as possible during that phase," she noted.

She did exactly that, taking the game on from the off and building toward a half-century.

Her plan was not simply to survive but to dominate.

"Once I got set, I wanted to build a bigger innings. That was my plan and what I tried to execute," she stated.

She fell immediately after reaching fifty, a dismissal she conceded cost her the chance to finish what she started. "Maybe I could not apply it perfectly because I got out right after reaching fifty. But until then, I kept trying to play a big innings, and that was the approach I batted with."

The chase briefly threatened to unravel when captain Nigar Sultana Joty was dismissed, but Juairiya kept her composure. "When Joty apu came in and then got out, it was a bit nerve-racking because she is one of our best batters. But I had a lot of confidence in the rest of our batting line-up. I believed that one of them would take the team through to victory, and Alhamdulillah, that is exactly what happened."

De Leede, despite the defeat, refused to concede the tournament. "I think we can definitely compete. I believe if it all comes together, we can beat any three of them on a given day. It's only T20 — you only need two or three players to excel. We can definitely cause some upsets, especially because we're the underdog.”

Bangladesh Cricket Board president Tamim Iqbal expressed happiness at the win, “I am really happy that the boys won the series, but I am more happy at the win of our girls against the Netherlands at the ICC T20 World Cup.”