Sultana, Moni help Bangladesh break duck in tri-series
Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana led the way with a half-century before fast bowler Ritu Moni returned career-best figures of 4-12 to help their side to a 34-run victory over Scotland in Edinburgh. This was Bangladesh's first win of the tri-series, also involving Netherlands, after two successive losses.
But it wasn't always smooth sailing for Bangladesh. They fell to 23/3 in the fourth over and risked a batting collapse and an eventual third defeat. But captain Sultana picked up the pieces and put them together through a 77-run partnership with Sobhana Mostary, who scored 39 off 31, with five fours and a six.
Scotland broke that alliance at a crucial juncture, with Bangladesh on 100 in the 13th over, but Sultana found another able ally in Shorna Akter, who chipped in with 20 off 23. Bangladesh managed 42 runs off the last five overs to give their bowlers a competent total to work with.
Scotland suffered a similarly damaging start but couldn't quite climb back like Sultana & Co. Akter Meghla and Marufa Akter reduced the chasing side to 1 for 2, and Marufa then sent captain Kathryn Pryce packing in the seventh over. Sarah Bryce tried to fight it out by stringing together a couple of stands, but none stood the test of time as Moni began to make inroads.
Moni accounted for Sarah, Scotland's best batter on the day, and then helped her team run through the tail in quick time. She finished with figures of 4-12 in just two overs as Scotland lost six wickets for just 32 runs, falling from 86/4 to 118 all-out in the space of six overs.
Brief Scores: Bangladesh 152/6 in 20 overs (Nigar Sultana 58, Sobhana Mostary 39; Maisie Maceira 2-23, Kathryn Bryce 2-26, Kirstie Gordon 1-18) beat Scotland 118 in 19 overs (Sarah Bryce 40; Ritu Moni 4-12, Marufa Akter 2-13) by 34 runs
