Bangladesh, Scotland win on second day of ICC Commonwealth Games Qualifier 2022

Bangladesh and Scotland registered wins against Kenya and Malaysia respectively on day two of the CWG2022 Qualifier. Bangladesh romped to an 80-run win over Kenya before Scotland overcame Malaysia by 31 runs on the second day of the ICC Commonwealth Games Qualifier 2022 at the Kinrara Oval in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday.

Bangladesh vs Kenya

An unbeaten partnership of 75 for the seventh wicket between Salma Khatun (33 off 32 balls) and Ritu Moni (39 of 34) propelled Bangladesh to 125 before Player of the Match Nahida Akter broke the back of the Kenyan run chase with impressive figures of five for 12.

Kenya won the toss and elected to bowl in their first match of the five-team tournament, being played to decide one remaining slot at the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham. Australia, Barbados, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan and South Africa have already qualified.

Lavendah Idambo delivered a nervous first over, leaking 16 runs, including two boundaries and three wide deliveries. However, she hit back with the wicket of opener Shamima Sultana before Mercyline Ochieng trapped Nigar Sultana in front and dismissed Rumana Ahmed first ball.

Murshida Khatun struck a few boundaries to the off side fence before getting a leading edge to Queentor Abel who made no mistake, taking the catch off her own bowling. In her very next over, Abel picked up the scalps of both Sobhana Mostary and Fargana Hoque to leave Bangladesh reeling at 50 for six at the end of nine overs.

A period of consolidation followed as Ritu Moni and Salma Khatun opted to rotate the strike and play out Abel’s remaining overs. After getting their eye in, they accelerated the run rate with Ritu Moni lofting Sarah Bhakita into mid-wicket for a boundary. They picked up 30 runs in the final three overs to lift Bangladesh to a respectable 125.

In reply, Kenya’s innings never got going. Veronica Abuga edged Salma Khatun through to keeper Shamima Sultana in the first over. Bowling the second over, Suraya Azmim trapped Queentor Abel in front for nine. A brilliant direct hit from Murshida Khatun caught Sylvia Kinyua short of her crease before Kenyan skipper Margarte Ngoche was trapped in front by a Nahida Akter arm ball.

Akter was able to extract turn from the wicket squaring up Venasa Ooko with a delivery that spun in before straightening to clip her off stump.

Amidst the chaos, Sharon Juma’s 24 off 20 balls was the only resistance of note from Kenya’s batting line-up as they fell 80 runs short of Bangladesh’s total.

Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana was all praise for the partnership between Salma Khatun and Ritu Moni.

“How they batted in that situation, controlling the pressure. It was absolutely wonderful to watch,” she said.

Kenya Skipper Margaret Ngoche was frank in her assessment of Kenya’s batting.

“The main areas that we really need to improve on is patience, we were really in a hurry to get runs, even when wickets were falling we did not give ourselves time to recover,” she said.

Player of the Match Nahida Akter kept things simple and executed her plans.

“From the beginning my plan was to bowl to my strength as much as I can,” she said.

Malaysia vs Scotland

Kathryn Bryce’s unbeaten 62 helped Scotland post 148 before Katherine Fraser took four for 19 to deliver a 31-run win over Malaysia.

After winning the toss and electing to bat, Scotland enjoyed a productive Powerplay. Sarah Bryce clipped a couple of boundaries off her toes with fellow opener Abbi Aitken-Drummond joining in the party. However, left-arm spinner Arianna Natasya dismissed Sarah in her very first over to put a lid on the scoring.

Scotland skipper Kathryn Bryce then walked in at three, putting on a 63-run partnership with Aitken-Drummond. Just as it looked like Scotland was pushing a total in the region of 160, they lost four quick wickets. Nik Atiela had both Aitken-Drummond and the aggressive Katie McGill stumped before Mas Elysa chipped in with a pair of wickets for herself. Kathryn Bryce, however, held strong, and continued to pepper the leg side boundary. Her seventh delivery came off the final delivery of the innings as Malaysia were set a target of 149.

In reply, Malaysia came storming out of the blocks. Three cover drives from Winifred Duraisingam set the tone for the innings with Wan Julia joining in the fun, walloping left-armer Rachel Slater for four down the ground.

However, the tide turned when off-spinner Katherine Fraser was introduced into the attack. Wan Julia chipped a catch to Aitken-Drummond before Duraisingam played inside one to lose her off stump in the very same over.

Soon after, Yusrina Yakoop was trapped in front before Mas Elysa lobbed a catch to Kathryn Bryce for Abtaha Maqsood’s first wicket. Leg-spinner Maqsood grabbed her second wicket when she trapped Nur Ilya in front for a duck. When Ainna Hamizah was dismissed by Hannah Rainey, Malaysia were reeling at 69 for seven.

However, Intan Jaafar and Nur Zulaika would put on a 45-run partnership with every one of their scoring shots cheered by a vociferous Malysia dugout. The hosts ended on 117 for eight.

Malaysia skipper Duraisingam was especially impressed with Malaysia’s ability to keep Scotland’s batters in check through the second half of the first innings.

“Yes, Scotland did get off to a good start, but I’m happy that we restricted them,” she said.

Scottish captain Kathryn Bryce was pleased with the eventual result but felt that Scotland let Malaysia’s batters stretch the game out on the back of Katherine Fraser’s impressive four-wicket haul.

“We didn’t execute with the ball at the top of the innings and let them get away, but Katherine Fraser bowled very well again to get us back on top,” she said.

Skipper Bryce was also awarded the Player of the Match award, admitting she enjoyed the conditions for batting.

“The surface was really good again today with a fast outfield. The ball has been keeping slightly low, but you get rewarded for playing strong shots,” she said.

Brief Scores:

Bangladesh beat Kenya by 80 runs. Bangladesh 125/6 in 20 Overs; Kenya 45 All Out in 12.4 Overs.

Player of the Match: Nahida Akter

Scotland beat Malaysia by 31 runs. Scotland 148/5 in 20 Overs; Malaysia 117/8 in 20 Overs.

Player of the Match: Kathryn Bryce