BANGLADESH SPIN A WEB OVER HONG KONG
A 59-run victory over Hong Kong took Bangladesh to the Final of the ACC Women's
Tournament in Johor Bahru. The result owed much to the guile of little 16-year
old left-arm spinner Champa Chakma who took 3-16 with a variety of top-spinners,
in-cutters and googlies that had all who faced her floundering.
Bangladesh's batting remains by and large bright and breezy and one always
feels that a wicket could fall the moment they play an attacking shot. Singles
aren't fancied in case they tire one out and thus, the false economy of a hard
hit is the option chosen. To generate power the players swing the bat hard
with the inevitable result that more shots than not go in the air.
Salma Khatun and Panna Ghosh are alone in being able to drive on the off on
the front foot along the ground and look a class apart from their team-mates.
Their partnership of 37 in a little over 10 overs for the fourth wicket did
much to steady Bangladesh after they'd lost two wickets in two balls in the
eighth over. When Khatun was out, flat-batting firmly, to a terrific diving
catch at cover by Samantha McIlwraith, Bangladesh were just about getting their
noses in front. Three more wickets fell for 10 however, and Hong Kong were
back in the game.
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| Ayesha Akhter is bowled by Godiva Li |
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Had Panna Ghosh been held at long-on when 28 (one of three chances she offered)
and two run-out chances been taken, Bangladesh would have been struggling.
Her partnership with the bustling Tithi Rani Sarker at the end of the innings
ran Hong ragged. Twenty runs were put on in the last four overs and Bangladesh
managed to reach their pre-match target of 100.
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| Ghosh and Sarkar embraced by their team after their match-swinging partnership of 29 |
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They thought it would be enough. One obstacle remained however, Hong Kong's
captain Neisha Pratt. Until she was out, Bangladesh couldn't rest. Pratt came
in at 4 so as to better negotiate the perceived spin-treat of Bangladesh and
when she took guard with her team at 14 for 2, the fate of the innings rested
on her shoulders. Panna Ghosh's pace was negotiated safely and one could sense
that Pratt was just playing herself in, looking to build a platform for her
side's victory.
The second delivery from Champa Chakma fizzed past the edge, Pratt was out
of her crease and the bails were whipped off. Even Bangladesh's manager screamed
with joy.
If Chakma was too good for Pratt, she was way too good for the rest. Barely
nudging four foot and from a part of Bangladesh (the Chittagong Hills) that
didn't know of cricket until the 21 st century, Chakma possesses a repertoire
of which Monty Panesar would be proud. The ball that did for Renee Montgomery
would have foxed anyone and had even the umpire from her end, S. Chandrasekaran
admiring it. He said after the match's conclusion, "Through the air it
looked like it was going to the off, and the batsman shaped to drive, on pitching
it just darts in and takes leg-stump. She has one that bounces, one that moves
away and one that moves in, there's one that gets quicker off the pitch….." Spinners
took six of the Hong Kong wickets to fall.
Chakma's pretty good and so is Hong Kong's left-arm prodigy thirteen year-old
Chan Sau Ha. She gets prodigious bat-beating turn herself and has major star-quality.
It wasn't her or Hong Kong's day today. Bangladesh were just too good. "It's
a learning curve for both teams," said Hong Kong's coach Lal Jayasinghe. "The
gap between Bangladesh and the other Test-playing countries of Asia is like
the gap between us and them, but take the best young players from both teams
and give them every chance to improve, within a few years they'll be a match
for the rest."
ACC WOMEN'S TOURNAMENT
Semi-Final: Bangladesh v Hong Kong, IPTI Johor Bahru
BANGLADESH WON BY 59 RUNS
Hong Kong won the toss and elected to field
Bangladesh: 100 for 7 off 30 overs (P. Ghosh 39*; G. Li 2-16, K. Gill 2-26)
Hong Kong: 41 all out after 23.3 overs (P. Ghosh 2-6, S. Khatun 2-2, C. Chakma
3-16)
Scorecard
Filed July 17 2007
