Bangladesh exit women's T20 World Cup after losing against South Africa
South Africa comfortably chased down the target with 16 balls and 7 wickets remaining, sealing Bangladesh’s exit from the tournament in the first round.
Facing South Africa in Dubai, Bangladesh needed a win to keep their slim hopes of reaching the semi-finals alive. However, after batting for the full 20 overs, Bangladesh could only post 106 runs for 3 wickets.
South Africa comfortably chased down the target with 16 balls and 7 wickets remaining, sealing Bangladesh's exit from the tournament in the first round.
Winning the toss and opting to bat, Bangladesh lost their first wicket before scoring a run, with Dilara Akter caught behind on the second ball of the innings, bowled by Marizanne Kapp.
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Despite recovering somewhat, Bangladesh struggled to build momentum. The second-wicket partnership between Sathi Rani and Sobhana Mostary added 36 runs, but they consumed 45 balls. Sathi scored 19 runs off 30 balls with 1 four and 1 six before departing. Mostary then partnered with captain Nigar Sultana, adding 45 runs for the third wicket from 56 deliveries.
Mostary was bowled on the first ball of the 18th over by Nonkululeko Mlaba, having scored 38 runs off 43 balls with 4 boundaries. After her dismissal, Bangladesh managed to accelerate slightly, with Nigar adding 25 runs off 17 balls alongside Swarna Akter. Nigar remained unbeaten on 32 runs from 38 balls, while Swarna finished not out with 4 runs off 7 balls.
In response, South Africa adopted an aggressive approach from the start, scoring 23 runs in the first 3 overs before losing their first wicket. Fahima Khatun managed to stump Laura Wolvaardt. Tazmin Brits took control of the match with her 42-run knock, supported by Anica Bosch's 25. Even though both departed within 5 runs of each other, Marizanne Kapp and Chloe Tryon finished the game comfortably.
With this victory, South Africa ended the group stage with 6 points from 4 matches. However, their progression to the semi-finals depends on other results, with West Indies and England also in contention from Group B. West Indies have 4 points from 3 matches, and England have 4 points from 2 matches. Bangladesh finished with 2 points from 4 matches.
