Nigar 75* fires Tigresses to record win over Sri Lanka in last-over finish
Bangladesh required 18 off eight balls and Nigar hit the Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu for a six and a four to bring the equation down to eight off the final over. The winning runs, most fittingly, came off Nigar's bat.
Captain Nigar Sultana's superb 75* off 51 fired Bangladesh women to victory against their Sri Lankan counterparts in the 1st T20I at the Singhalese Sporting Club in Colombo. Bangladesh successfully chased down 146 with one ball to spare. It was their highest successful chase in this format, going past 142 they made against India in the 2018 Asia Cup in Kuala Lumpur.
Bangladesh required 18 off eight balls and Nigar hit the Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu for a six and a four to bring the equation down to eight off the final over.
Although Ritu Moni, who played a superb hand of 33 off 23, got out in the fourth ball of the final over, the winning runs, most fittingly, came off Nigar's bat.
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Nigar's 75* came off just 51 balls at a strike-rate of 147.05. She hit seven fours and two sixes, one of them coming in the all-important penultimate over.
It was the highest individual score by a Bangladeshi in a successful T20I chase and the highest by a wicketkeeper-batter in women's T20I history.
Bangladesh lost both their openers inside five overs but Nigar anchored the chase really well, forging two important partnerships with Sobhana Mostary (17 off 24) and Ritu. The 71-run stand between Ritu and Nigar almost sealed the deal for the visitors.
Earlier, Sri Lanka posted a challenging total of 145 for six courtesy of decent contributions from Harshita Samarawickrama (45 off 44), captain Athapaththu (38 off 28) and Nilakshi de Silva (29 off 28).
Leg-spinner Fahima Khatun was the pick of the bowlers for Bangladesh with two for 20.
