“We can all be very proud of the effort we put in today,” Netherlands captain Babette de Leede said as she walked off the Mangaung Oval. Her side, appearing at their first T20 World Cup, had just pushed a more seasoned Bangladesh all the way before losing by six wickets with five balls left.
Juairiya Ferdous, a Bangladesh debutant only five months ago, supplied the decisive innings. Chasing 140, Bangladesh dipped to 85 for 4, yet the 20-year-old’s 32-ball fifty – her second in T20Is – gave them the breathing-space they needed to complete their highest successful chase at a World Cup.
“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,” Ferdous said. “I am happy that I could contribute, even if only a little.
“I focused on how I could make the best use of the powerplay, and then, once I got set, I wanted to build a bigger innings. That was my plan and what I tried to execute. 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.”
The powerplay – the first six overs when only two fielders are allowed outside the 30-yard circle – yielded 46 runs, most of them off Ferdous’ bat. She drove through extra-cover, swept fine and twice cleared mid-wicket for six. At one stage she should have gone, Sterre Kalis diving forward at deep mid-wicket only for replays to show the ball had brushed the turf. Another chance, a sharp return catch to Robine Rijke, also went down. Ferdous cashed in, raising her half-century with a skip down the track and loft over long-on, then fell the very next ball when leg-spinner Caroline de Lange found extra bounce and Phebe Molkenboer held the cut at point.
That wicket left Bangladesh 95 for 5. From there a calm, unbeaten partnership – content to knock singles and punish the rare loose ball – edged them home. Captain Nigar Sultana, bowled for a duck by de Lange earlier, watched the finish from the dug-out, relieved.
“When Joty apu [Sultana] got out, it was a bit nerve-racking because she is one of our best batters,” Ferdous admitted. “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.”
Netherlands’ 139 for 6 had revolved around de Leede’s compact, 45-ball half-century. She manoeuvred the spinners neatly and, importantly, kept her side moving after they slipped to 24 for 2. Support came from Iris Zwilling and Silver Siegers, who added pragmatic twenties. The total looked competitive on a two-paced surface, and de Lange’s double-strike – Sultana and Ferdous – nearly tilted it their way.
“There’s still lots to play for, still a lot to come. We’ll see a lot more runs from other batters as well. We still believe we belong here. We worked really hard for it. So I think next game we’ll bounce back a lot stronger,” de Leede said, determined to ensure her side’s promising World Cup debut does not end as a footnote.
From Bangladesh’s perspective the match underlined two points. First, the depth of their order – valuable in a tournament where wickets can tumble quickly. Second, the emergence of Ferdous, who only hit her maiden international fifty in the qualifiers in January and now owns a Player-of-the-Match award on the global stage. Her readiness to attack in the powerplay, yet throttle back into strike-rotation when the field spread, suggests a batter already adapting to international demands.
For the Netherlands, the immediate task is recovery: shoring up their catching and extending middle-order partnerships. For Bangladesh, tougher assignments await, but they have two early points and a youngster whose ambition already feels contagious.
