A new breeze of comfort wafts through the Bangladesh women鈥檚 team camp as they take on Ireland in the second ODI of a three-match series at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur today.聽
Bangladesh dominated their Irish counterparts in both batting and bowling in the first ODI to secure a record win by 154 runs, taking a 1-0 lead in the series. They also bagged two crucial points in the ICC Women鈥檚 Championship.聽
The batting laid the foundation for the huge win as the top four stood up with Sharmin Akter top scoring with a blistering 89-ball 96.聽
The women鈥檚 team batting coach Nasiruddin Faruk thinks that the comeback of Sharmin Akter with a stronger mindset helped the cause.聽
鈥業 think in the last eight months; we were concentrating on T20s. But in the previous series except that against Australia, we were doing well,鈥� Faruk told reporters on Friday.
鈥極f course, the comeback of Supta [Sharmin] does matter. The difference between the Supta one year ago and now is that the present version is mentally stronger.鈥櫬�
Sharmin, who made a comeback in the previous match after last playing in July 2023, became the first female player to score a significant number of runs with a strike rate of 107.86.
鈥楾he difference is in mindset. Naturally, you won鈥檛 see this type of innings. You guys were saying that our team is dependent on one player. Now it seems that everyone is capable of scoring runs,鈥� said Faruk.
The batting coach also presented another difference. In the previous match, Bangladesh hit a joint record number of 27 boundaries (26 fours and one six).聽
鈥楾here will be dot balls in women鈥檚 cricket. But in the previous match, we also hit 27 boundaries; that is another record. The thing is, when our opponents are a big team, they also give dot balls. But they hit more boundaries than us.鈥�
In a year where Bangladesh have played 16 T20Is compared to only four ODIs so far, the batting was the biggest concern. Apart from the captain Nigar Sultana Joty, the others were inconsistent.聽
But coming back to the 50-over format, and against a weaker opponent in Ireland, the batting found new ground. Now it鈥檚 time to maintain consistency.聽