Sylhet (Bangladesh), (Asian independent) Fargana Haque slammed an unbeaten 71 off 102 balls and Salma Khatun snared three for 25 as Bangladesh Emerging women defeated the touring South Africa Emerging women by 54 runs in the opening one-dayer on Sunday.
Jenay Winster’s 3 for 33 restricted Bangladesh to 195 for nine in their 50 overs, but the visitors were bundled out for 141 in 44.5 overs at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium.
The South Africans, coached by Dinesha Devnarain, now trail 0-1 in the five-match series and will be hoping to bounce back in second match on Tuesday.
South Africa won the toss and bowled first but struggled to get through the home side’s top-order, with Murshida Khatun (36) and Sharmin Sultana (34) giving Bangladesh a strong start, before Fargana Haque anchored the rest of the innings with an unbeaten 71 that included five boundaries.
The South Africans did manage to chip away after the opening Khatun-Sultana salvo that yielded 78, although Haque stood firm to lift her side to a competitive total.
In reply, the SA side made a confident start, with top-scorer Andrie Steyn (41) and Robyn Searle (15) putting on 41 for the opening wicket. But things went wrong from there as they crumbled to lose all their wickets in a span of 100 runs.