It was a night of heartbreak and missed chances for Bangladesh as they fell short by just seven runs against Sri Lanka in a thrilling encounter. Despite a solid performance from Nigar Sultana Joty (77) and Sharmin Akter (64*), Bangladesh couldn’t cross the finish line.
A dramatic collapse in the final overs – including four wickets on four consecutive balls in the last over shattered their hopes of a historic win. Earlier, Shorna Akter impressed with the ball, picking up three wickets, but it wasn’t enough to prevent defeat.
After the match, Nigar Sultana spoke candidly about the emotions in the camp and the moments that turned the game away from Bangladesh.
Reflecting on the final overs, she said, “The way we batted the game shouldn’t have gone till the last over. The second last over we should have finished the game. But we couldn’t get any runs there and lost a couple of wickets. Me and Sharmin Akhter were there but she got a cramp, so she took off, we were quite settled. Somewhere somehow, we couldn’t get those boundaries, and it cost us our game.”
Speaking about the mood in the dressing room, the Bangladesh captain admitted how difficult it was to process the loss. “It’s really heartbreaking because we had to win. This kind of match we played against three teams – England, South Africa and Sri Lanka. We have to think about it and take a lot of learnings. In this kind of situation how we should come out and how we should get runs. The young players were playing in the middle and the crucial moments they should learn.”
Reflecting on her 82-run partnership with Sharmin Akter, Nigar said it was built on intent and communication. “We lost three early wickets so we were trying to build the partnerships, and we were talking if we could play till the 30th or 40th over then maybe we can finish the game before. We both batted really well and were comfortable in the middle. The run rate kept going, we tried a lot but couldn’t capitalize in the middle.”
On the recurring pattern of nail-biting finishes, she admitted the team needs to manage momentum better. “It was a mistake, maybe we are trying to build momentum but aren’t able to do that, with that total why did we go till the last over.”
Nigar also emphasized the importance of domestic cricket in developing consistency and skill. “Playing domestic your skills get better. But yes, playing domestic, building strengths and skill sets through that is necessary.”
When asked about Chamari Athapaththu’s pressure bowling, she reflected, “Chamari was trying to bowl at a block, we could have taken an option and could have batted well.”
Finally, on Sharmin Akter’s situation during the tense finish, Nigar clarified, “Yes she was in the dugout but her full body was in cramps, we did not want to push her because we did not want to hurt her because still one match is left.”
It was a match that will sting for a while, one Bangladesh had within their grasp. But as Nigar said, it’s a night full of lessons that could define the team’s journey forward.
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