Despite concerns regarding captain Nigar Sultana Joty鈥檚 form, Bangladesh are eager to bounce back as they face South Africa in their fourth match of the ICC Women鈥檚 World Cup at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam today.
After beating Pakistan in their opening match, Bangladesh lost back-to-back matches against England and New Zealand. They gave England a scare but were blown away by New Zealand after a dismal batting performance.
Joty, the premier batter of the team, scored zero and four after scoring 23 against Pakistan.
However, vice-captain Nahida Akter doesn鈥檛 think that it adds pressure to the team while Joty isn鈥檛 scoring.
鈥楴o, I don鈥檛 see it that way. We have other capable batters in the team,鈥� Nahida told reporters on Sunday.
鈥楢nd our captain, Joty, always plays in a way that inspires us. I believe she鈥檒l do better in the next match, if God wishes,鈥� she added.
Only two batters have scored fifties for Bangladesh so far, while the next two highest scores came from non-specialist batters.
Left-arm spinner Nahida also said that they had a discussion with their batting coach on their recent collapses.
She said, 鈥榊es, I agree our batting collapsed. We鈥檝e already discussed it with our batting coaches and among the players.鈥�
鈥榃e鈥檝e been working on those weaknesses, and hopefully the batters will come back in the next match,鈥� she added.
Bangladesh lost heavily to New Zealand in their previous match. On the other hand, South Africa clinched a thrilling victory over hosts India, thanks to a record-breaking innings from Nadine de Klerk, who scored 84 off 54 while coming in at eight.
Nahida, however, stated that they were confident.
鈥極bviously, we鈥檝e already talked with our batters and bowlers and will have another team meeting. We know that they are a good team and won their last match, but we鈥檒l try our best to perform well and do better in tomorrow鈥檚 [today鈥檚] match,鈥� she said.
鈥極f course, we鈥檙e confident. Whenever we play, we play to win; no one comes here to lose. However, we collapsed in batting in the previous matches, but we鈥檙e hopeful it鈥檒l improve tomorrow,鈥� she added.
Bangladesh beat South Africa three times in their 23 meetings. One of those came in their last bilateral series in 2023.