Tigresses top Group A of Women's U-19 T20 World Cup, beat USA by 5 wickets

Bangladesh beat the USA by five wickets in their final group stage match of the inaugural ICC Women's U-19 T20 World Cup at Benoni on Wednesday. With this win, the Tigresses topped Group A after winning all three matches and proceed to the Super Six of the tournament. 

Bangladesh had to toil comparatively harder to seal the victory than their previous two matches. They chased down 104 runs in 17.2 overs losing half of their batting side. 

Openers Afia Prottasha and Sumaiya Akter departed early as the Tigresses were reduced to 21 for two in the chase. Things seemed to look shaky but Dilara Akter and Shorna Akter's quickfire 38-run partnership made the chase comfortable. 

Shorna was the top scorer with 22 runs to her name. She hit two boundaries and a maximum batting at an astonishing strike rate of 157.

Rabeya Khan was the second-top scorer with an unbeaten 18-run innings to guide the team home. 

For the USA, Aditiba Chudasama picked up two wickets for 15 runs from her four overs. Bhumika Bhadriraju, Snigdha Paul and Sai Tanmayi Eyyunni picked up a wicket each. 

Earlier, USA captain Geetika Kodali won the toss and elected to bat first. They had a slow start without losing many wickets, but the run rate was never going to be of help. 

Snigdha Paul and Disha Dhingra both went past 20 but their Test-like strike rate didn't take them any further than 103. 

Snigdha bagged 26 off 37 balls while Disha scored 20 off 39 balls. 

Isani Vaghela and skipper Geetika scored 17 and 16 respectively at run-a-ball strike rate. 

Disha Biswas bagged a brace for only 13 runs from her allotted four overs. Marufa picked up a wicket and the other was a run out.

Bangladesh won both of their previous matches comprehensively against title favourites Australia and Sri Lanka respectively. They eventually top the Group A with a NRR of 0.759.