Nigar Sultana Joty scored an unbeaten 75 off 51 balls as the Bangladesh women’s side cruised to a six-wicket victory over their Sri Lankan opponents in the maiden Twenty20 international played on Tuesday in Colombo.
Nigar hit seven fours and two sixes as Bangladesh successfully chased down their mark of 146 runs with one ball remaining and six wickets in hand.
The victory comes after Bangladesh suffered a 58-run defeat in the lone one-day match they played during their trip to Sri Lanka, which was the only match of the three that was completed.
After winning the toss and electing to bat first at the SSC in Colombo, Sri Lanka amassed 145 runs for six owing to the contributions of captain Chamari Atthapattu (38 runs off 28 balls) and Harshitha Samarawickrama (45 runs off 44 balls). Even though each of the five Bangladeshi bowlers deployed took at least one wicket, Nilakshi de Silva remained undefeated on 29 runs after facing 28 deliveries.
As is their custom, Bangladesh got off to a sluggish start and lost many wickets at the beginning of the match. However, Nigar, who finished in fourth place, decided to take things into her own hands. At the end of the Powerplay, Bangladesh’s score was 38 for two, and after the halfway stage, it had improved to 63 for two, but they still needed 83 runs to win.
Jyoti and Ritu Moni took the Sri Lanka captain for 17 runs in the over, and then Jyoti completed off the chase despite losing Ritu, who hit 33 runs off of 23, to a run-out in the penultimate over. Bangladesh went into the 19th over still needing 25 runs, but Jyoti and Ritu Moni took the Sri Lanka captain for 17 runs in the over.
On Thursday, the second Twenty20 International will take place at the same location as the first one. In the Women’s Twenty20 International rankings, Bangladesh are currently ranked ninth, while Sri Lanka are currently ranked seventh.