COLOMBO: Bangladesh kicked off their Women's Cricket World Cup campaign in style, cantering past Pakistan's modest 129 with seven wickets and 18.5 overs to spare in Colombo on Thursday.
On WODI debut, opener Rubya Haider announced herself with an unbeaten half-century, steering the chase with the composure of a seasoned pro as Bangladesh barely broke sweat in pursuit of the below-par target.
But it was their bowlers who set the tone.
Lone seamer Marufa Akter struck with a double blow in her very first over, two wickets in successive balls, before a spin web tightened the screws on a hesitant Pakistan line-up.
"We are thrilled to get a win under our belt in our first outing," said Marufa.
"There was lot of support from my team-mates. Special credit to our team analyst who fed me with some valuable input leading into the game.
"We showed lot of energy on the field and we take lot of positives from this game."
With a rich spin arsenal at their disposal, Bangladesh never let Pakistan off the hook.
Left-arm spinner Nahida Akter snared two quick wickets to leave the opposition tottering at 47-4 inside 14 overs, before leg-spinner Shorna Akter came on to deliver the final nails on the coffin.
Bowling with metronomic accuracy, she cleaned up the tail, returning remarkable figures of 3-5 in 3.3 overs without conceding a run in her first three overs.
Then, Rubya anchored the chase, her half-century carved through cut shots that threaded the gap between point and cover.
She looked particularly strong square of the wicket, never needing to go aerial.
Pakistan, by contrast, produced a limp batting display with only two players crossing 20.
They must quickly come to grips with the sluggish Colombo surface, where all their matches will be staged.
One silver lining was the spell of seamer Diana Baig, a double international who has also donned Pakistan colors in football.
Her late inswingers kept Bangladesh's batters guessing, but with no scoreboard pressure to defend, her efforts weren't enough.
"We just lost too many wickets early on and never recovered," Pakistan captain Fatima Sana said.
"We need to put this defeat behind us now and bounce back stronger. We have a lot of young players in our ranks and the World Cup is their first big tournament and hopefully they will learn from the mistakes."
