Despite a battling all-round display led by Eimear Richardson, Ireland suffered an opening day defeat in the ICC Women's T20 World Cup qualifier against Bangladesh in Abu Dhabi.Bangladesh captain Niger Sultana Joty’s 67, along with the bowling of Salam Khatun (3-18) were the stand-out performers for Ireland’s opponents in a game that was played out in very humid conditions, and under the lights at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium.Temperatures had peaked at 38 degrees celsius during the day, and by evening it was still 29 degrees.
After winning the toss, Bangladesh elected to bat first, perhaps looking to take advantage of early evening conditions before the infamous Abu Dhabi dew took effect.Ireland’s bowlers were loose early, partly as a result of sweat making it difficult to get a solid grip on the ball.
However, the Irish bowling unit stuck to their task and Richardson was rewarded with the wicket of Murshida Khatun (16) in the fifth over.The right-arm spinner came around the wicket and got the ball to turn into the left-hander, hitting her on the back leg, adjudged lbw.The re-introduction of Richardson, bowling in tandem with captain Laura Delany, slowed the run-rate mid-way through the innings, with Shamima Sultana and Joty moving the score to 88-1 after 14 overs.
With the third ball of the fifteenth over Delany broke the excellent 62-run partnership, as she trapped Sultana (48) lbw, just two runs short of her half-century.Despite the loss of Sobhana Mostary (4), Bangladeshi captain Joty went on to score 67 off 53 balls, with 39 of those coming in the final three overs, before she fell with the last ball attempting a six towards long off.