Bangladesh advances to the semi-finals with big victories led by Murshida and Nigar.
Bangladesh advanced to the semi-finals of the Women’s Asia Cup 2024 after defeating Malaysia by 114 runs in an outright mismatch.
Bangladesh batted first, scoring 191 for 2, their second-highest total in T20Is. Murshida Khatun hit a career-best 80 off 59 balls, while skipper Nigar Sultana made an undefeated 62 off 37.
In response, Malaysia managed only 77 for 8. They did not win the campaign, but one hopes they gained valuable experience. To remain competitive at this level, they must improve in all three areas: batting, bowling, and fielding.Malaysia’s skipper Winifred Duraisingam opened the bowling with a wide. Dilara Akter mistimed the next ball towards mid-on, but instead of trying for the catch, the fielder was content to intercept it on the bounce. Those two deliveries were a preview of what was to come. Against the left-right opening pair of Dilara and Murshida, Malaysia’s bowlers erred on both sides of the wicket and lacked fielding support.However, Bangladesh was only able to muster 25 runs in the opening four overs. When Murshida was on 13 off 15 balls, Aina Najwa dropped him on the first ball of the fifth. Dilara hit the final three balls of the over for six, four, and six, adding insult to injury. Bangladesh completed the powerplay on 51 for no loss as Murshida got into the act with a boundary off Ainna Hamizah Hashim in the following over.
A rare display of skill from a Malaysian fielder, Dilara struck Mahirah Izzati Ismail towards square leg, where Aisya Eleesa lunged forward to grab an outstanding catch. That brought an end to the 65-run opening stand in 7.4 overs. Dilara scored 33 off of just 20 balls.
At that point, Murshida was hitting 28 off 26 balls. But Dilara quickened her pace after falling. She reached 53 off 45 balls after two consecutive boundaries from Ismail, her second half-century in as many games. She put Bangladesh over 150 in the 17th over with a slog-swept six off Elsa Hunter.
Before Murshida was dismissed by Hunter, Dhanusri Muhunan, the replacement fielder, made a brilliant catch at extra cover. Murshida and Nigar put up 89 runs in 56 balls for the second wicket.However, Muhunan’s attempt was exceptional. Subsequently, Malaysia lost two more catches: Najwa dismissed Rumana Ahmed at square leg in the final over, and Nur Aishah dismissed Nigar at deep midwicket in the 20th over. Immediately after, Nigar reached her fifty runs off of 34 balls and hit a six off the last ball to end the innings.
