Bangladesh Women secured a dominant 7-wicket win over Pakistan Women in their campaign opener of the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025, played today (2nd October) at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
After opting to bat first, Pakistan were hit by an early setback, losing their first two wickets in the very first over with only 2 runs on the board. It was 20-year-old Marufa Akter who did the damage with the new ball. The right-arm medium pacer got the ball to move into the right-hander and shattered the stumps of both Omaima Sohail and Sidra Amin, both dismissed for golden ducks.
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Muneeba Ali and Rameen Shamim tried to revive the innings, but their 42-run stand was broken when both fell to the left-arm spin of Nahida Akter in consecutive overs, leaving Pakistan 47 for 4 in 13.4 overs.
That proved to be Pakistan’s highest partnership as wickets kept falling at regular intervals. Aliya Riaz, Sidra Nawaz, and skipper Fatima Sana all got starts but none were able to stay for long. Rameen Shamim top-scored with 23, while Fatima Sana added 22, helping Pakistan just past three figures. They were eventually bowled out for 129 with more than 11 overs remaining.
Bangladesh were sharp in the field, and captain Nigar Sultana rotated her bowlers effectively, with all of them among the wickets. Shorna Akter, introduced later in the innings, wrapped things up with her leg spin, taking the last three scalps for just 5 runs inside 4 overs.
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In reply, Bangladesh lost a couple of wickets early, but opener Rubya Haider steadied the chase. She and skipper Nigar Sultana added 62 for the third wicket to ease the pressure. Sultana fell to her opposite number after making 23.
On debut, Haider went on to score a half-century, and an unbeaten 35-run stand with Sobhana Mostary guided Bangladesh home inside 32 overs. Haider remained unbeaten on 54 with 8 fours, while Mostary struck a quick-fire 24 off 6 boundaries.
Brief Scores:
Pakistan Women – 129 (38.3) Rameen Shamim 23, Fatima Sana 22, Shorna Akter 3/5, Nahida Akter 2/19, Marufa Akter 2/31
Bangladesh Women – 131/3 (31.1) Rubya Haider 54*, Sobhana Mostary 24*, Nigar Sultana 23*, Diana Baig 1/14
Bangladesh Women won by 7 wickets.
 at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. ){kind=link}