Bangladesh women's team captain Rumana Ahmed said that her team had tuned up well by beating Ireland in the warm-up game before today's ICC World Cup Qualifiers opening match against Papua New Guinea at the Colombo Cricket Club ground.

“We are confident of making a good start. We had a good warm-up game against Ireland where our batsmen batted according to the plan and we are hopeful that things will be better when we take on Papua New Guinea in the opening match,” Rumana told The Daily Star over phone from Colombo yesterday.

Bangladesh beat Ireland by 39 runs on Sunday in the opening match, scoring 235 for eight in 50 overs before spinner Khadija Tul Kubra picked up four wickets to restrict Ireland to 196.

“Here, the temparature is high; otherwise everything is okay. The wicket is also good and we are confident that our batters will be able to show a good performance. Batting is our main concern but we are improving,” Rumana said.

“We know about PNG [Papua New Guinea] as we played against them in Thailand in the T20 World Cup and they are an improving side,” she continued.

Bangladesh women's team has been placed in group B along with Papua New Guinea, Pakistan, South Africa and Scotland.

BANGLADESH'S GROUP MATCHES  

February 7: Bangladesh vs Papua New Guinea (CCC) 

February 8: Bangladesh vs Pakistan (P Sara)

February 10: Bangladesh vs Scotland (CCC)

February 11: Bangladesh vs South Africa (P Sara)