Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana believes her team can get back to winning ways when they face Pakistan at the Hampshire Bowl in Southampton on Saturday, June 20, 2026, in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026.
Bangladesh started their campaign with a six-wicket win over the Netherlands on Sunday, June 15, but faced a setback in their second match on Thursday, June 18, when Australia beat them by nine wickets. Sophie Molineux played a key role in Australia’s comfortable victory.
Despite the loss, Nigar is confident her side can recover well and keep their hopes of reaching the knockout stage alive.
“Whenever we play against Pakistan, we try to play good cricket, and our winning percentage against them is relatively high,” said Nigar. “From that perspective, I would say that batting responsibly is going to be very important for us now. We will be playing at a new venue, so adapting to the wicket will also be a factor.
“But what I believe is that, given our strong record, if we want to bounce back as a team, staying positive will be extremely important. The [Australia] match is already behind us, so rather than focussing on the negatives, if we can carry forward the positives into the next game, it will help us. I believe this team has the ability to bounce back.”
One of the main reasons behind Bangladesh’s different results has been their performance in the powerplay overs.
Against the Netherlands, Bangladesh were 40/2 after the first six overs during a successful chase. Against Australia, however, they managed only 22/3 in the powerplay while batting first, which put them under pressure early in the innings.
Nigar feels a strong start from the top-order batters will be important if Bangladesh want to beat Pakistan.
“Scoring runs in the powerplay is extremely important, whether you’re batting first or chasing,” she continued. “It is a very important phase of the game because if you fail to put enough runs on the board during the first six overs, it creates pressure on the entire team. Those lost runs are often very difficult to make up for later in the innings.
“The batters currently playing in our top order have the ability to bounce back. They performed well against the Netherlands, which shows their capability. I hope they go into the match against Pakistan with the same mindset and positive intent. If they do, it will have a significant impact on our team’s performance.”
Pakistan, meanwhile, are still looking for their first points of the tournament after losses to India and South Africa in their opening two matches.
Fatima Sana’s side came very close to beating South Africa on Thursday, June 18, with the Pakistan captain producing an excellent all-round performance. However, South Africa managed to secure a narrow two-wicket win.
While Pakistan took many positives from that performance, bowling coach Umaid Asif knows that wins are now needed if they want to stay in the race for the semi-finals.
He said, “Every game is a must-win when you come to this kind of a World Cup. So, we’re going to try to win that one (against Bangladesh) as well. We take things one game at a time and we go to Hampshire and we will plan accordingly.”
With both teams hoping to improve their semi-final chances, the match in Southampton could be a very important one for Bangladesh and Pakistan.
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