Joty lauds Tigresses’ ‘good spirit’ after three-wicket heartbreak

A night that promised glory ended in heartbreak for Bangladesh once again. Despite dominating large parts of the contest and fighting until the final over, Bangladesh Women fell to a three-wicket defeat against South Africa in their ICC Women's World Cup clash in Visakhapatnam on Monday -- a result that could have been very different had they grabbed their chances in the field.

Captain Nigar Sultana Joty wore both pride and pain on her face after the narrow loss, praising her young side's spirit.

"Really proud of the way we fought to the last ball. The girls are so young. We fight for each and every run, we're very emotional, so it was a great learning curve," said Joty during a post-match presentation. "Maybe we were still 10–15 runs short. We talked about bowling the right lengths, maybe we fell down a bit there. But we showed good spirit and gave them a tough time in the middle."

Having stunned Pakistan in their opener and pushed England close earlier in the tournament, Bangladesh looked on course for another big scalp when South Africa slipped to 78 for five in pursuit of 233. But a costly dropped catch in the penultimate over and a few missed run-out chances turned the tide.

Earlier, Bangladesh had posted a fighting 232 for six, built on half-centuries from Sharmin Akter Supta (51) and Shorna Akter (51 not out) — the latter producing the fastest fifty of the tournament, off just 35 balls. Joty (32), Farzana Hoque (30) and Rubya Haider (25) provided valuable support as the Tigresses finished just two runs shy of their highest World Cup total.

With the ball, Bangladesh's spinners squeezed the Proteas early, but Marizanne Kapp (56) and Chloe Tryon (62) revived the chase with an 85-run stand for the sixth wicket. Once both fell, Nadine de Klerk — dropped on 26 — made the Tigresses pay, steering South Africa home with an unbeaten 37 off 29 balls and three balls to spare.

Tryon, named Player of the Match, admitted the tense finish could have gone either way:

"It was nerve-wracking, but we stayed calm and waited for the bad balls. We knew we could chase 80 in the last 10 overs."

For Joty and her team, the defeat was another reminder of how close they are to turning potential into wins.

"[On Shorna] The way she batted was a show we were really enjoying — that's how we should bat," Joty said. "My team is very young, but we kept going. Be proud of how we have done — we still have three more games left."