Sultana:' Heartbreaking' not to play in Bangladesh, but our help below is beautiful

" We all are secure and representing our land and had a nice get in front of a good number of people and back home they were quite content"

This was meant to be Bangladesh's game. They made certain it was their match.

A second T20 World Cup win in a century and only their second in 22 matches to refuse qualifiers Scotland a fairytale was a tough affair all-round, but Bangladesh may get it.

Bangladesh safely defend 119 for 7 winning by 16 runs as Scotland, making their maiden appearance at the tournament, managed only 103 for 7 in reply during a game characterised by dropped catches galore, poor running between the wickets and only 15 boundaries- all fours- on a ground with vast dimensions square of the wicket and with the rope pushed well again.

Captain Nigar Sultana, playing her 100th T20I, managed a run-a-ball 18, bettered in her area simply by Shobhana Mostary's 36 from 38 and 29 from opening Shathi Rani. But it was enough against the visitors, despite the best efforts of Saskia Horley, who took 3 for 13 from two through and Sarah Bryce with an unbroken 49 in searing warmth in Sharjah for the beginning match of the game.

" It means a lot", Sultana said after she and her team broke into an mental on-field party at the end of the match.

In March, Sultana enthusiastically told ESPNcricinfo's Powerplay audio of her hopes for the game inspiring women and girls playing cricket in Bangladesh. But next civil unrest in the country resulted in a move to the UAE with games shared between Sharjah and Dubai.

" First it was very painful because we were often bearing in mind that we were able to play in front of our household crowd", Sultana said. " But this team, the individuals looking around now, it was excellent, we got quite a few individuals supporting Bangladesh.

" As a professional team, I think we may move on and not be thinking about playing in Bangladesh in front of a home audience now but still being able to play here and we are very lucky.

" We all are safe and representing our land and had a good gain in front of a good number of people and again home they were very happy, I think so, when we get the response of our family and friends, certainly they are in a very fine feelings right now".

What Sharjah Stadium lacked in population, it genuinely did a decent job of making up for with atmosphere.

A group of Scottish family and friends screamed hearty support as their players gathered to sing" Florence of Scotland" at the top of their lungs, and a particularly vocal group of Bangladesh supporters jumped, shouted, and waved signs throughout the match as the ground announcer continued to rouse them along with anyone who would listen.

Another swathe of seats was occupied by a large group of schoolchildren who had earlier been on the field, patiently holding up giant flags of both countries and the ICC banner through the national anthems.

And, in keeping with the UAE's penchant for plonking down giant versions of big brands from around the world in the centre of Dubai in particular, a brass band that could have been plucked from St George's Park in Gqeberha played enthusiastically as more spectators filtered in as though they were being serenaded by the Pied Piper.

And while the win set Bangladesh off well ahead of their second game, against England on Saturday, it also left them with work to do.

" Certainly after this game I think we need to work on our fielding because we put down a lot of chances", Sultana said. " Definitely I missed two chances so I need to work on something. We still have a long way to go, and we'll work on it. We'll also incorporate all the positive aspects of this game into the upcoming one.

For Horley, it was a case of "mixed emotions" but she remained upbeat despite arguably Scotland's best chance of springing an upset having passed them by.

" There's a bit of disappointment, clearly not getting the win, but there's so much we can take from today's game, to restrict them to only 120", Horley said. " There's definitely mixed emotions, definitely some positive ones still. There's so many games left, that we're competing and I'm excited for us to make a bit of a stance in this competition.

" Something happens the way you want it, some do n't, and we gave it a really good crack today." I think we held it together in the field even when we had a couple of missed chances that we would've wished we'd taken. But we definitely stuck together.

" I think we were in the contest the whole time, to be honest. Nobody in the changeroom or anywhere else in the field ever believed that we were in trouble at any point. We were in the competition the entire time and had faith, despite the fact that it eventually became challenging.