In a thrilling encounter, Bangladesh Women defeated Sri Lanka Women by 6 wickets with one ball remaining in the 1st T20I of the Bangladesh Women's tour of Sri Lanka at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground in Colombo on Tuesday.
Sri Lanka Women won the toss and elected to bat first. Chamari Athapaththu, the Sri Lankan captain, got the team off to a good start with a quickfire 38 off just 28 balls.
However, she was dismissed by Nahida Akter in the 9th over. Harshitha Samarawickrama held the innings together with a well-made 45 off 44 balls, but wickets kept falling at the other end. In the end, Nilakshi de Silva's unbeaten 29 helped Sri Lanka Women post a competitive total of 145/6 in their 20 overs.
For Bangladesh Women, Fahima Khatun was the pick of the bowlers with two wickets for 20 runs in her 4 overs. Fariha Trisna, Sultana Khatun, and Nahida Akter picked up a wicket each.
Chasing 146 for victory, Bangladesh Women lost opener Shamima Sultana early, but Nigar Sultana, the captain, and Sobhana Mostary steadied the innings with a 51-run partnership. Mostary was dismissed for 17 by Oshadi Ranasinghe, but Nigar Sultana continued to play aggressively and kept the scoreboard ticking. She found an able partner in Ritu Moni, who scored a quickfire 33 off just 23 balls.
With 16 runs required off the last 2 overs, Bangladesh Women looked in trouble after Moni was run out in the penultimate over. However, Nigar Sultana held her nerve and smashed two boundaries in the final over to take Bangladesh Women to a thrilling victory. She remained unbeaten on 75 off just 51 balls, which included 7 fours and 2 sixes.
Three Sri Lankan bowlers took a wicket each, but they failed to win the match for their team. The remaining two matches of the series will be played on May 11th and 12th at the same venue. //
