Shawesh Desk:

Bangladesh women put on a collective performance as they beat their Irish counterparts by five wickets in the second ODI to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Saturday.

Chasing a target of 194 to win, the hosts cruised to 197-5 with 37 balls to spare. This was their third-highest successful run chase overall, highest at home and against Ireland.

Captain Nigar Sultana Joty played a key role in the middle-order with her 40 off 39 while opener Fargana Haque hit her second consecutive fifty, with Sharmin Akter and Sharna Akter all contributing after the bowlers restricted Ireland to 193-6.

For Joty, securing two points in the ICC women’s championship was more important than the series victory, but the win was a testament to their hard work.

‘These cricketers have been working hard for a long time. When you can’t win, there’s negativity around. But a win is huge for the team,’ Joty, who was adjudged as the player of the match, told reporters after the win.

Opting to bat first, Ireland lost both openers cheaply as the spin duo Nahida Akter and Sultana Khatun struck each.

Amy Hunter and Orla Prendergast then put on a 91-run partnership for the third wicket to give Ireland a foundation.

But they fell in consecutive overs. Prendergast (37) was run out while Hunter was trapped lbw by part-timer Sharna after making 68 off 88 balls.

Una Raymond-Hoey’s 18-ball 21 and Laura Delany’s 33 then lifted Ireland close to 200.

But Joty admitted that their bowling could’ve been better. Seven bowlers were used by her, with Sultana Khatun grabbing two wickets while Nahida and Sharna took one wicket apiece.

In chase, Bangladesh wobbled twice. First when Murshida Khatun fell at the beginning. But Fargana and Sharmin—the stars of the previous match—added 85 runs for the second wicket to steady the ship.

Fargana fell after making 50 off 89—her 12th half-century; Sharmin followed her with seven shy of her milestone.

Bangladesh wobbled a bit again, but a timely innings from Joty with the help of Sharna (29*) and Sobhana Mostary (16) saw them home.

Batting was the main concern for Bangladesh leading into the series, but they stood up in the first two matches.

Joty believed that the most important part of the game was to maintain consistency.

‘Today [Saturday] morning, the message I gave to the cricketers was that to be consistent is the key. We should repeat the batting performance of the first match,’ she said.

‘Consistency is important. We lost many matches due to our batting failures. From that point, batters getting runs is a relief. But the question remains: whether we could repeat that in the next match. That challenge remains.’

The third and final ODI will be held at the same venue on Monday. After that, both teams will move to Sylhet, where they will compete in a three-match T20I series starting on December 5.