Bangladesh women's team suffer heavy defeat against West Indies

Bangladesh women's cricket team suffered a massive 9-wicket defeat against hosts West Indies in the first ODI of the three-match series at St. Kitts. With this loss, Nigar Sultana's side faces a tougher challenge in securing a direct spot for the 2025 Women's Cricket World Cup. To secure automatic qualification, they must win the remaining two matches. Failure to do so would push them into the qualification playoffs.

Batting first after losing the toss, Bangladesh managed to post a total of 198/9 in 50 overs. The target posed little trouble for the West Indies as their openers Hayley Matthews and Kyshona Joseph stitched together a 163-run opening stand.

Joseph played a fiery knock of 70 runs off 79 balls, smashing 6 fours and 4 sixes. Matthews carried her bat, scoring an unbeaten 104 off 93 balls, with 16 boundaries. West Indies comfortably chased the target in just 31.4 overs, with 109 balls to spare.

For Bangladesh, the batting started promisingly, with opener Murshida Khatun scoring 40 off 53 balls and Sharmin Akhter making 42 off 70 balls. However, once the duo was dismissed by West Indies skipper Matthews' off-spin, the rest of the innings faltered. Despite a fifth-wicket partnership of 54 runs between Shobnom Mostary (35) and Swarna Akter (29), Bangladesh could not cross the 200-run mark.

Currently, Bangladesh is in sixth place on the ICC Women's Championship table with 19 points, trailing New Zealand, who hold the fifth position with 21 points. Only the top five teams, apart from hosts India, will earn a direct World Cup berth. The second ODI of the series will take place on Wednesday.

Brief Scores:
Bangladesh: 198/9 in 50 overs (Sharmin 42, Murshida 40; Dottin 3/40)
West Indies: 202/1 in 31.4 overs (Matthews 104*, Joseph 70; Rabeya 1/38)
Result: West Indies won by 9 wickets.