The ICC Women’s ODI World Cup keeps delivering thriller after thriller. Bangladesh came within touching distance of a famous win before getting the door shut on their face in the last over by West Indies.
Having won the toss, Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana asked West Indies to bat first, who got their choice to bat first on a dry pitch in sunny conditions. However, they suffered from the get-go and lost both Deandra Dottin, Hayley Matthews, Stefanie Taylor and Rashada Williams for 48 runs and inside 15 overs.
Spinners Nahida Akter and Salma Khatun looked to be in great touch and picked up four wickets between them to restrict the opposition. West Indies would have folded up for a score less than 100. However, they limped and crawled their way to 140 thanks to a fantastic unbeaten half-century from Shemaine Campbelle, who proved to be the difference with the bat.
She struggled to get off strike for a large part of her innings – out of 107 balls she faced, she played 72 dots. Despite that, she dug deep and added 68 for the last two wickets with Afy Fletcher and Karishma Ramharack. Besides Campbelle’s knock, only three other West Indies batters managed to get into double digits, which says a lot about the disciplined bowling shift by Bangladesh.
Despite losing Shamima Sultana in the first over of the run-chase, Bangladesh seemed to be in a more than comfortable position at 60/2 inside 21 overs. With 81 runs needed to win the match, it seemed like only a matter of time before they’d pick up a much-needed win.
Bowling in her sixth over, Fletcher then ran riot and left a trail of devastated Bangladesh batters in her wake. She dismissed Fargana Hoque, Rumana Ahmed and Ritu Moni with the score still at 60 and suddenly, Bangladesh were in a heap of trouble.
Salma Khatun and Nahida Akter took the game deep, but WI kept their nerves. Needing 10 runs off the final two overs, Deandra Dottin bowled a perfect penultimate over full of slower deliveries and gave away just two runs.
With eight needed off the last over, Nahida Akter seemed to back herself to secure the win. She scored two runs off the first ball and then played the second ball with the same intent but eventually settled for just a single. It proved to be fatal as Fariha Trisna dragged one off to the stumps as Bangladesh were left heart-broken.
2022 Women’s ODI World Cup table
| # | Team | Matches Played | NRR | Points |
| 1 | Australia | 4 | +1.744 | 8 |
| 2 | South Africa | 4 | +0.226 | 8 |
| 3 | West Indies | 5 | -0.930 | 6 |
| 4 | India | 4 | +0.632 | 4 |
| 5 | New Zealand | 5 | -0.216 | 4 |
| 6 | England | 4 | +0.351 | 2 |
| 7 | Bangladesh | 4 | -0.342 | 2 |
| 8 | Pakistan | 4 | -0.996 | 0 |
