Bangladesh start Asia Cup campaign with thrilling victory

The Bangladesh Women's 'A' team has begun their Asia Cup Rising Stars campaign with a fantastic start. The Tigresses defeated the Sri Lanka Women's 'A' team by 4 runs at the Tardthai Cricket Ground in Bangkok, Thailand to open the tournament.

Batting first after winning the toss, Bangladesh were bowled out for 115 runs in 19.5 overs. The innings had a brilliant start. The opening partnership between Ishma Tanjim and Shamima Sultana yielded 48 runs. Shamima scored 17 runs off 19 balls. Ishma played a useful innings of 30 runs off 25 balls. Coming in at number three, Sharmin Sultana contributed a fighting 29 runs off 27 balls, giving the team a competitive total. However, a batting collapse towards the end saw Bangladesh add only 11 runs from the last 19 balls.

Sri Lanka's Sachini Nisansala took 4 wickets for 14 runs.

Chasing the target of 116 runs, Sri Lanka also stumbled at the start. Captain Fahima Khatun provided the first breakthrough quickly. Although wickets fell at regular intervals, Hansima Karunaratne kept the fight alive with 26 runs off 31 balls. Later, Ama Kanchana (23) and Sachini Nisansala (20) added tension to the match.

Sri Lanka needed 13 runs in the final over. Captain Fahima Khatun was handed the ball. Bowling brilliantly under pressure, she made the equation difficult. Although 7 runs were needed off the last ball, Sri Lanka could only manage 2 runs. Thus, Bangladesh secured a thrilling victory by 4 runs.

With the ball, Sanjida Akhtar Meghla took 3 wickets. Fahima Khatun and Lata Mondal claimed 2 wickets each.

With this thrilling victory, the Bangladesh Women's 'A' team has begun the tournament with confidence.