Tigresses eye semi-final push in crucial India test

Bangladesh will look to continue their impressive run in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup when they take on neighbours India in Manchester on Thursday in a do-or-die contest as they aim to stay alive in the race for the semi-finals.

The Tigresses, who have already beaten the Netherlands and Pakistan, are currently placed fourth in the Group 1 points table behind Australia, India and South Africa.

Australia, who have won all four of their matches so far, have all but secured a place in the semis with a healthy net run rate of 4.7. India, meanwhile, have played three matches and won two, with a run rate of 2.5. South Africa and Bangladesh both have four points, separated only by net run rate.

That means India, South Africa and Bangladesh are virtually fighting for the second spot in the group, with the women in red and green requiring victories in their two remaining matches - against the Indians and the South Africans - to guarantee a place in the last four.

Bangladesh batter Sobhana Mostary sounded optimistic ahead of the all-important clash against India, riding on the confidence of their win over Pakistan.

“Since we are in a very good position, the team is in a good place because we have won two matches, which usually helps in terms of the vibe in the team. We will definitely try. Our next match is against India, then against South Africa. Our bowlers have shown what they can do, and now if we can improve our batting... I think it will be up to the batters. If we can put up a good total, then our bowlers can bowl accordingly,” Sobhana said at the pre-match press conference.

When asked about facing India, one of the stronger sides in the competition, Sobhana said that Bangladesh carried good memories against one of the title contenders.

“India is a very good side. We all know that. But when we play against India, like when we played them at home, the matches are always competitive and we try to do well with whatever strength we have. And since we have won against Pakistan, the team unity is strong now. So if we can play our game on the day, whoever plays better will win. We would like to go into the match with our strengths,” the 24-year old said.

“They are our neighbours and we always enjoy playing against them. Their progress in cricket has been remarkable. They are our neighbours but they are way ahead, and we really enjoy competing against them. Whenever we play Pakistan or India, there is always extra excitement within us,” she added.

The cricketer from Rangpur also highlighted Bangladesh’s batting shortcomings so far in the tournament while expressing optimism that the batters could step up in these crucial fixtures.

“We will be looking at our batting. Since the environment back home and the environment here are very different, we have to adapt to these conditions. Our openers did well in one match, but in the next two they fell behind. Right now, we are thinking only about the next match since this ground is good, with some help for spin and some for pace. At the moment, our focus is only on this,” the right-handed batter said.

“Before we came here, we played in Scotland and we were very excited because the environment there was very similar, with similar wicket, conditions and weather. We adapted there. We lost two matches there, but those games were important because we came back and won the next two. So we gained confidence from that tour and here in England the conditions are similar, so we prepared well,” she added.

India batter Shafali Verma also sounded upbeat about the knockout scenario of the tournament.

“We all know how important these two matches are for us. We have to win both of them. We will focus on one match at a time. We are playing Bangladesh tomorrow (Thursday) and then Australia. We will try to play our best,” she noted.

"We cannot take any team lightly. They came here to show good cricket. As I just said, we have to go game by game. We will try to give our best tomorrow and win that game," she hoped.