Bangladesh women’s cricket team will take the field on Friday (February 17) in their third match of the T20 World Cup group stage. Negara Sultana Jyoti’s team has almost been knocked out of the semis race after losing the first two matches. Tigresses will face New Zealand in the match to stay in the top four. The match will start at 7 pm at the Newlands Cricket Ground in Cape Town. The history of the T20 World Cup is not good. Still, Bangladesh’s women’s cricket team set foot in South Africa with big dreams. The motivation was the recent performance of the women’s team at the Youth World Cup.

But after losing the first two matches, that dream is going to be grey. However, after the first match, the fixing issue in the team has given birth to a new controversy. An atmosphere of doubt and fear has been created in the team. Out-of-squad cricketer Soheli Akhter offered spot-fixing to Lata Mondal before the match against Australia, which Lata also informed the coach-manager. Lata was not included in the match against Ajid as the matter is under Aksu’s investigation. Negara Sultana Jyotira will at least want to forget these things before the match against New Zealand. Because losing against New Zealand will end the team’s dream of playing in the semi-finals. Like Bangladesh, New Zealand is at the bottom of the points table after losing the first two matches.

If they lose this match, their World Cup mission will also be over. But the recent matches against Bangladesh will give confidence to the Black Caps girls. The girls of Bangladesh lost the ODI and T20 series in the tour of New Zealand last December. Kiwis will want to keep that record intact this time too. Although the team did not perform as expected in the current World Cup, captain Jyoti is in rhythm with the bat. Fifty has also been scored against Ajid. And U-19 World Cup pacer Marufa has caught the eye separately. His victims were four wickets in two matches. A win against New Zealand will not only keep the World Cup mission alive but will also put aside the fixing controversy and bring relief to the team.