‘Means a lot’: Emotional Joty reflects on first T20 WC victory in a decade

Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana Joty said today after a 16-run win against Scotland in the T20 World Cup opener in Sharjah that they had been waiting for this moment for a long time. 

With the win, the Tigresses ended their winless run of 16 matches in the showpiece event, a streak that dates back to 2014 when they last won a match in the tournament, against Ireland in Sylhet.

“We have been waiting for this moment for a long time. We had in our minds that this is our moment. Means a lot,” said an emotional Joty, for whom it was more special as it was her 100th T20I match, during a post-match presentation ceremony.

After electing to bat, Sobhana Mostary top-scored with 36 as Bangladesh posted a below-par 119-7. However, Joty said she was confident about defending the total because of the condition.

“This is the kind of wicket where we need get settled. It was not very easy to bat on initially. Building a partnership (between Shathi Rani and Mostary) was crucial for us. We had a good total and we kept believing in ourselves,” said Joty.

“We have a very good spin attack, with [pacer] Marufa [Akter] also doing well. So, we were confident about it (the defence). Very happy that we fought back and seeing them (the girls) smile is the biggest inspiration,” she added.

Bangladesh bowlers strangled the Scotland batters and despite a 49 not out from Sarah Bryce, the newcomers could only muster 103-7, handing Bangladesh their first win in a T20 World Cup in a decade.

It was a tough opener for both sides with temperatures hitting 38 degrees Celsius and the batters stymied by a sluggish pitch and slow outfield.

There were just 15 fours in the match and no sixes to cheer the sparsely-populated stands.