208 looks a gettable score on paper. But remember, Bangladesh had fluffed what looked like an easy chase against New Zealand in the Women's T20 World Cup a couple of years ago. Would they have learnt their lesson? Are the batters up for the task at hand? And more importantly, will we see a second successive upset in this Women's World Cup? We shall have answers to all that in a while, when Srivathsa kicks off the chase.
2:30pm Jahanara Alam and Fariha Trisna started well with the ball, getting it to move appreciably. The latter kept a leash on the South African batters at the start as well as at the death. Sune Luus and Mignon du Preez and then Chloe Tryon and Marizanne Kapp, with their 71-run partnership, kept the Bangladesh bowlers at bay for some time. However, the Asian side came back strongly, thanks to three wickets from Trisna and two each from Jahanara and Ritu Moni.
Showkat Khan : "Last 5 overs five wickets without conceding a boundary. Good stuff from BD."
Aeman: "Go, Girls, Go ! Millions are cheering for BD today, stay positive and play your normal game."
Bala: "Excellent bowlinng display by BD. Who would have thought that they would be in the current position against a formidable SA batting? One more to go to get motivated for the chase and mind you SA has a very formidable bowling attack which BD has to counter to succeed."
2:25pm Excellent show by Women's World Cup newbies Bangladesh in their maiden outing. A strong bowling show has seen them dismiss South Africa for just 207.
Here's what Marizanne Kapp had to say about the first half of this game: I am very disappointed with the batting performance. It is not the kind of performance we wanted to see. Bangladesh bowlers bowled well but we should have done better. We are 20-25 runs short of where we wanted to be. I was a bit nervous because we were a bit under the pump. Bangladesh did well with the ball in their first World Cup game.
A Khaka st †Shamima Sultana b Ritu Moni 2 (7m 4b 0x4 0x6) SR: 50.00
Ritu Moni will bowl the final over.