It rained small milestones and a few jangling nerves in Dhaka as Bangladesh edged past tournament debutants Netherlands by six wickets, with five balls to spare, in their opening T20 World Cup fixture. Chasing 140, the hosts slipped to 85 for 4 before 20-year-old Juairiya Ferdous, playing only her 15th T20I, produced a brisk half-century that proved decisive.
“We can all be very proud of the effort we put in today,” Netherlands captain Babette de Leede said afterwards, and her words felt fair. De Leede’s own fifty had underpinned a competitive 139 for 6, only the second time the Dutch have passed 130 in the format. She found useful support from Sterre Kalis, while Bangladesh’s bowlers battled through some early looseness to keep the target within reach.
The chase began brightly enough before Caroline de Lange’s teasing leg-spin knocked over skipper Nigar Sultana for nought. Ferdous admitted that wicket gave her a jolt. “When Jyoti apu got out, it was a bit nerve-racking because she is one of our best batters,” she said. “But I had a lot of confidence in the rest of our batting line-up. I believed that one of them would take the team through to victory and that is exactly what happened.”
Ferdous’s plan was simple: attack the powerplay, settle, then stretch the innings. “Since this was my first match of the tournament and also my first World Cup match, my goal was to do something special and contribute to the team,” she explained. “I am happy that I could contribute, even if only a little.” If anything, she was harsh on herself for departing one ball after reaching her fifty. “Maybe I could not apply it perfectly because I got out right after reaching fifty. But until then, I kept trying to play a big innings.”
Her 32-ball effort, laced with seven fours and two sixes, was not without fortune. Kalis thought she had a diving catch on the ninth ball of the reply; the television umpire ruled otherwise, a decision that felt a genuine turning point. Soon after, Robine Rijke spilled a return chance, and Ferdous punished the miss with consecutive boundaries. She raised her milestone by launching de Lange over the ropes, only to cut the next delivery straight to point where Phebe Molkenboer held on.
From 100 for 4, Bangladesh required calm heads. They found them in Sharmin Akhter and Shorna Akter, who put on an unbroken stand worth 42 – the side’s second half-century partnership of the innings, a rarity for the Tigers in World Cup play. The pair’s rotation of strike, allied with a couple of well-timed blows down the ground, ensured the required rate never spiralled.
On a surface offering occasional grip for the spinners, Bangladesh’s attack earlier relied on change-ups rather than outright pace. Left-armer Nahida Akter removed both openers, and Rabeya Khan’s googly accounted for the dangerous Rijke. Yet the bowling card still showed 11 wides, an area the coaching staff will underline before a sterner assignment against Australia later this week.
For the Dutch, the positives outweighed the result. De Lange’s 2 for 27 came with genuine drift, and 18-year-old quick Iris Zwilling topped the speed gun at 118kph while conceding fewer than seven an over. “We spoke about playing fearless cricket, and largely we did,” de Leede reflected. “One or two moments didn’t go our way, but that’s sport.”
Short-form cricket often hinges on those tiny swings, and Ferdous turned most of them Bangladesh’s way. Her knock was also the side’s highest score in a successful World Cup chase, eclipsing Sultana’s 46 against Sri Lanka two years ago – an encouraging marker for a team that has struggled to close out matches.
There is plenty still to polish: a few misfields, that cluster of wides, and a top order occasionally guilty of over-hitting. Yet Bangladesh have points on the board and a young batter already talking like a seasoned pro. As Ferdous put it, “I kept trying to play a big innings.” If she keeps doing that, the Tigers may spring more than a few surprises this month.
