PAKISTAN: 97 for 6 in 20 overs (Marina 14, Bismah 24, Nain 18, Sana 10, Nida 10 not out; Rumana 2-13)
BANGLADESH: 38 for 9 in 7 overs (Ayasha 7, Rumana 10, Farzana 10; Sana 2-11, Sadia 2-2, Nida 2-2)
Result: Pakistan won by 4 runs (D/L method)
Bangladesh women’s cricket team let slip a gold medal from their grasp as they lost the final of the Twenty20 event of the Asian Games against Pakistan by four runs in a tense final at the Yeonhui Cricket ground yesterday.
The result was a repeat of last edition’s final where Bangladesh had lost against the same opponents by 10 wickets. But the way the Tigresses lost the match despite being in a winning position will surely haunt them for a long time. However, the team can return home with the consolation of giving Bangladesh the only medal of the 17th Asian Games so far.
With a very simple equation of 43 runs for victory from 42 deliveries in the revised target following a heavy downpour after the Pakistan innings (97/6 in 20 overs), the Bangladesh batters showed their utmost impatience and gave away the wickets. In the end, they fell five runs short of the target which gave Pakistan back-to-back gold medals in cricket’s short history in the Games.
After being put in to bowl first, Bangladesh managed to restrict Pakistan to below hundred-mark, thanks to two wickets each from Salma Khatun and Sharmin Shaila.
But the sudden downpour delayed the match for almost two hours and Bangladesh were given a revised target of 43 runs in Duckworth Lewis method. Bangladesh got off to a flying start by scoring 10 runs in the first over with opener Ayesha Rahman Shuktara hammering a four over the midwicket. But Ayesha and her opening partner Rumana Ahmed got run out needlessly in the third over to leave Bangladesh 20 for two in three overs.
Still the match was in Bangladesh favour, but when skipper Salam Khatun and Farjana Haque got out irresponsibly in the fifth over, things started to look bleak for the Tigresses.
Bangladesh needed just 10 runs in the last 12 deliveries but could manage only five runs, losing three more wickets as their dream of winning the gold medal was extinguished. “It is really disappointing when you lose a match from such a winning position. It is an agony which will take a lot of time to heal,” said a dejected Salma after the medal-distribution ceremony.
“Every batter was asked to focus on singles but no one did that in the middle. I can’t understand why they batted in such an aggressive way,” said Salma.
“I think the girls were a bit tensed and excited at the same time as sensed that they were going to make it,” said Salma. “But we should have kept our heads cool to reach the easy target.”
News Source: The Daily Star