Tigresses battered

Bangladesh women's series against South Africa ended on a poor note as the hosts crumbled to an eight-wicket defeat in the fifth one-day at the Sheikh Kamal International Cricket Stadium at Cox's Bazar yesterday as Rumana Ahmed and co ended up losing the series 4-1.

It was arguably the Tigresses' worst performance of the five-match series as the hosts were bundled out for just 68 in 36.3 overs on a track that seemed to support the bowlers. In reply, the South Africans, reached home in just 10 overs and with eight wickets in hand.

After having elected to bat first, South Africa's pacers Odine Kirsten and Marcia Letsoalo took a total of seven wickets to run through Bangladesh's middle order. While Kirsten finished with brilliant figures of 4 for 10 in 10 overs with a staggering five maidens, Letsoalo gave away 13 in her 10 and scalped three wickets.

Nigar Sultana and Sharmin Sultana were the only batters who managed to reach the double figures for Bangladesh with Nigar scoring 10 and Sharmin 13.

After the exchange, South Africa opener Lizelle Lee scored a 19-ball 37 with seven fours to provide the visitors with an aggressive start. While Salma Khatun and Rumana Ahmed took a wicket each, former captain Mignon Du Preez and top order batter Chloe Tryon ensured that there were no further hiccups and they reached home in ten overs.

While the series was quite one-sided, Bangladesh have a number of positives to take from this tour. For starters, they were quite competitive in the second ODI and won the third ODI by ten runs. However, they were not consistent enough.

Rumana Ahmed was Bangladesh's highest run-getter and the fourth highest scorer of the series with 142 runs in five matches while Khadijatul Kubra was the highest wicket-taker of the series with 11 wickets.

SCORES IN BRIEF

BANGLADESH: 68 all out 36.3 overs (Sharmin 13, Nigar 10; Kirsten 4-10, Letsoalo 3-13, Fourie 2-22)

SOUTH AFRICA: 69 for 2 in 10 overs (Lee 37, Tryon 13 not out; Rumana 1-13)

Result: South Africa won the match by 8 wkts and won the five-match series 4-1.

Player-of-the-match: O Kirsten

Player-of-the-series: L Lee