New Zealand bowlers on Saturday edged past Bangladesh by 17 runs in their nail-biting match at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020.
After being bundled out for mere 91 runs, the White Ferns stopped Bangladesh 17 short of the target as Hayley Jensen and Leigh Kasperek took three wickets apiece at Junction Oval in Melbourne. Wicketkeeper Nigar Sultana, who scored 21 runs, was the top-scorer for Bangladesh.
Ritu Moni’s first four-fer failed to provide Bangladesh a historic victory in Group A. Bangladesh battled in the modest chase but were dismissed for 74 with the White Ferns defending the lowest score ever in a non-reduced match at the competition.
New Zealand’s 91 all out is the lowest total ever defended in a non-reduced Women’s #T20WorldCup match 😮#NZvBAN pic.twitter.com/gZH2KW5rKx
— T20 World Cup (@T20WorldCup) February 29, 2020
The win for New Zealand means Group A is perfectly set-up for a final showdown, with a Trans-Tasman match on Monday seeing them face Australia, with the winner set to reach the semifinals.
“We know we scraped through to the last ball, but it was really a good bowling performance by us. I tried to keep it simple – hit the seam and bowl stump-to-stump. We know we have done the good work, we just need to train well and need to come out confident for the next match,” said Jensen, who was declared the Player of the match.
Brief Scores: New Zealand 91 all out (Rachel Priest 25; Ritu Moni 4/18, Salma Khatun 3/7) defeated Bangladesh 74 all out (Nigar Sultana Joty 21; Hayley Jensen 3/11, Leigh Kasperek 3/23) by 17 runs.
(With inputs from IANS)