Asian champions Bangladesh women’s cricket team have got a four-wicket victory over hosts Ireland in the second match and their first T20 series win.
Shamima Sultana’s fifty has fired Bangladesh women to the victory 2nd T20 match held at Dublin of Ireland on Friday, adding another feather to their hat after the Asia Cup triumph.
They had won first game of the three-match series on Thursday by the same margin. Opener Shamima now holds two of the three T20 fifties by Bangladesh batswomen, reports bdnews24.com.
Friday’s victory could have been sealed much easier, earlier and bigger as Bangladesh needed only 29 runs off 39 balls with nine wickets in hand.
They made a meal of it by losing wickets at regular intervals after Shamima’s (51) exit in the 14th over, which took the match to the last over.
But Sanjida Islam held her nerve and smashed a six off the first ball, taking the team to 125 for 6.
Shamima and Fargana Hoque (36) scored the record second wicket partnership of 75 runs after opener Ayesha Rahman was out in the third over.
Delany and Ciara Metcalfe took two wickets each.
Earlier, Jahanara Alam, who fired Bangladesh to the victory in the first match with a historic five-wicket haul, left Ireland struggling after Laura Delany won the toss and elected to bat first.
The right-arm medium pacer claimed the scalps of opener Clare Shillington (2) in the third over and Gaby Lewis (5) in the fifth.
The other opener, Cecelia Joyce (60), then took the Irish forward with Delany (20) before the skipper was taken out by Rumana Ahmed.
Spinner Nahida Akter helped Bangladesh keep Ireland’s run rate in check by snaring the wickets of Eimear Richardson and Kim Garth in the 16th over.
Joyce on the other end kept scoreboard ticking and took her team past 100 before falling to leg-spinner Fahima Khatun.
Fahima, however, gave 13 runs in the final over which helped Ireland to a decent total of 124 and keep the required rate for Bangladesh at more than 6 an over.
The next match will be held on Sunday.