Calculative risks pay off as Tigresses chase something more significant

Buoyed by their win against Pakistan, Bangladesh women’s cricket team travelled to Manchester yesterday hoping to further their hopes of making it to the semifinals of the T20 World Cup.

The Bangladesh team management is now more confident that its tactical risks have paid off till now. Shorna Akter, in particular, played a crucial knock of 39, taking calculated risks in the 23-run win against Pakistan, giving Bangladesh more hope heading to the India match in Manchester.

Bangladesh were five down when Shorna came in and produced a cameo that helped the Tigresses to a middling total. Shorna, who usually bats at number six, was held back so that she could play more freely. It was a risk but that slight tinkering helped.

“Shorna usually bats at six. Because of the collapse, we kept her intact for the late end of the innings. It was a tactical decision, since we wanted to let her bat freely. After early wickets, [Nigar Sultana] Joty was playing the anchor role and her intent was good before she unfortunately got out. If that partnership had developed [with Shorna], we could have had 15-20 more runs. Shorna’s batting was appropriate for T20 death overs, and she delivered exactly that,” batting coach Nasiruddin Faruque told The Daily Star yesterday.

There is a power gap to overcome with the rest of the sides, the batting coach conceded. “Power cricket and fitness issues are major components of T20 cricket. We are far behind in this area.”

Held back just a little longer, Shorna was however unleashed against the pacers and the right-hander showed awareness in building her innings.

“Because there were left-arm spinners bowling earlier in the innings, we wanted Shorna to play more against the pace bowlers,” Faruque said, indicating that matchups led to the tinkering.

“She rotated the strike and hit five boundaries in 22 balls. Her strike rate was 180-plus as she was hitting the gaps. We don't have the strength to hit 70-metre sixes regularly, so we have to keep taking these calculative risks,” he reflected.

The bowlers did what appeared to be impossible after Pakistan got off to a solid start in chase of 124. “The plan was to bowl without conceding boundaries. We figured if we bowled without conceding boundaries in four-over partnerships, we'd succeed. You'll see that in the last 10 overs, they didn't hit a single boundary,” he said.

Pakistan did not manage a single boundary after the eighth over as the spinners produced a stunning comeback.

Bangladesh, currently third in the group, have for the first time won two games at a T20 World Cup and are dreaming of something more significant. India have far superior run-rate, which means Bangladesh would need big wins to have a chance at semifinal berth. Faruque said the mood in the camp has been very positive.

“Ultimately, from the Sri Lanka series, whatever the result was, we didn't do anything that disrupts gelling together,” he said.

“We have two matches left. Both are better teams. But for qualification, we have to win both matches now and the run-rate will be an issue for us. India are superior but sometimes it happens that a Ferrari can be stopped by small speed breakers,” he concluded.