Bangladesh secured their first-ever win in the T20 World Cup since 2014. After a decisive batting display that displayed, cross-hitting, leg side dominance and ten boundaries got the original host to secure just 119.
The newbies of the tournament Scotland emerged as valiant competitors but fell short of their Cinderella run in UAE by 16 runs. Boundaries emerged as the sole difference between the winner Bangladesh with 10 and Scotland with just five. In a post-match press conference, skipper Joty Answering Cricket Predicta ITV group TV program Cricket Predicta powered by 1xBAT “boundaries stood between “winning and losing”. Along with her milestone of 100 matches for Bangla Tigers Joty got her team to win the match, another first since 2014.
Today India takes on two-time runner-up New Zealand at Dubai International Stadium. The Women in Blue have made it to the finals in only one of the previous eight editions. They were outclassed by a formidable Australian side in 2020. Harmanpreet Kaur and Co. will want to forget the heartbreaks from yesteryears in marquee events and go the distance in the UAE.
Before the match press conference, Indian skipper Harmapreet Kaur said “We know how happy we were when they (Indian Mens Team) won the game and how excited the whole country was when they brought the cup back home. We want to enjoy ourselves and play with no pressure because that won’t help us at all. That excitement means a lot for us and my message is very simple and very clear: just go there and enjoy yourself because that is something which is going to help you a lot when you’re playing.”
Further, she added “There hasn’t been too much cricket in the UAE so it will be a real challenge for all the teams around how they adapt, but we are excited to play there. When you’ve got India and Australia, as well as Sri Lanka, it’s going to be a pretty tough pool to progress through, but we certainly love our chances coming up against those sorts of teams.”
India’s strength this time could be the fine mix of youth and experience in their squad. Also, the conditions in the UAE could help them as they have some excellent spinners to suit the sluggish conditions that are expected to greet the teams.
Asha Sobhana, Shreyanka Patil, Deepti Sharma, and Radha Yadav are expected to play integral roles for India in the 10-team competition with their spin-bowling abilities. Their batting talents also add a lot of balance to the Indian setup.
New Zealand have not been in great form in recent times in the shortest format of the game. They have suffered defeats in their last 10 T20Is (seven against England and three against Australia). After picking up a comprehensive eight-wicket win in their first warm-up clash against South Africa, the White Ferns went down to England by five wickets.
New Zealand finished runners-up in 2009 and 2010 but are yet to win the tournament. Last year, they failed to reach the knockouts but will be seeking redemption this time.
Coming back to yesterday’s game Bangladesh ended their 10-year-long wait to win a Women’s T20 World Cup match after beating Scotland by 16 runs on Thursday at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. Back in April 2014, the Tigresses defeated Ireland by 17 runs, after which they lost 16 matches in a row in the mega event, failing to win a single game in 2016, 2018, 2020 and 2023.
But against Scotland, Nigar Sultana Joty’s women somehow found a way to secure their third win out of 22 matches in the history of the tournament. Scotland, making their debut in the T20 World Cup, put in a strong effort, but ran out of gas due to a lack of experience. The Scots will be looking to make amends when they face West Indies in Dubai on Sunday.