Daily Sun, 12 September 2012
Skipper Salma Khatun led from the front to earn Bangladesh national women’s cricket team an exciting seven-wicket victory against visiting South Africa women’s in the first match of the three-match T20I series at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.
Batting first, top order batter Susan Benade’s 37 runs off 30 balls helped South Africa score 105 runs losing six wickets in 20 overs.
Salma led the Bangladesh bowling attack taking two wickets while Rumana Ahmed and Khadijatul Kubra picked one each.
Chasing the target, Bangladesh suffered an early blow, losing their opening batsman Lata Mondol in the second over.
However, in the fourth over rain stopped play at Mirpur as the hosts had 12 runs on the board at the cost of one wicket.
The D/L method was eventually applied and the target for the home side was revised to 73 runs in 13 overs.
With two reliable names, Rumana Ahmed and Farzana Haque in the middle, the chase could have been easy for the Bangladesh ladies, but they lost two back to back wickets while trying to take quick singles.
First, a misunderstanding between Farzana and Rumana saw Farzana walk back to the dressing room and in the very next delivery, it was Rumana who walked back, after a mix-up with the new batsman in, Salma.
However, the partnership between Salma and Ayesha Rahman Sukhtara boom-dazzled the South African bowling attack scoring the required 42 runs in just 4.2 overs.
The 11th over bowled by South African spinner, Sunette Loubser came as a blessing for the Bangladesh side. Three boundaries by Salma and a couple of singles saw Bangladesh score 14 runs off the over.
Salma and Sukhtara made sure they ended the match. Salma, who struggled in the previous matches, scored an unbeaten 27 runs off 14 deliveries while Sukhtara scored unbeaten 15 runs.
“I think the rain was lucky for us. We knew that the over will be curtailed but we would have to score more. When I saw we have to 61 to score in 50 deliveries, I told my batsmen to bat freely,” said Bangladesh skipper and player of the match Salma.
“When we needed 11 runs from 12 balls, I felt we will win this match and it happened. It’s a great relief that I have got some runs at last. It will certainly boost my confidence,” added Salma.
Meanwhile, South African skipper Mignon du Preez and her side were left surprised the Salam-Sukhtara batted. Though the visitors are down by 1-0 in the three match series, Preez has confidence on her girls and is sure to bounce back in the series.
The second match of the series is scheduled to start at 10.15am today at the same venue and will be televised Live on ATN Bangla.
Bangladesh Economy 
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