Women's cricket: Bangladesh shock South Africa by two wickets

Dhaka, Sep 7 (IANS): The South African women’s cricket team suffered a two-wicket defeat at the hands of hosts Bangladesh in the first One-day International (ODI) of the three-match series here.

Batting first, South African women set a target of 75 runs in 34.4 overs Thursday. Skipper M. du Preez was the highest scorer from the South African side with 24 runs. Bangladesh chased down the target in 37.3 overs with two wickets in hand. Lata Mondal was the top scorer with 31 runs from Bangladesh, Xinhua reports.

Bangladesh’s Khadija Tul Kubra and Rumana Ahmed took three wickets each. S. Loubser took three wickets while S. Ismail and M. Kapp grabbed two each for the South African team.

Both teams are set to meet again for the second match Friday at the same venue. The third and final ODI is scheduled for Sunday.

South Africa arrived in Dhaka Sep 4 to play three ODIS and as many T20 Internationals against their Bangladesh counterparts as part of their preparation for the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka later this month.

South Africa are placed in Group B with Sri Lanka, New Zealand and the West Indies in the World T20 to be held in Colombo, Sri Lanka from Sept 26-Oct 7. India are in Group A with Australia, England and Pakistan.