West Indies thrash Ireland

Centuries from Stafanie Taylor and Juliana Nero helped West Indies Women thrash Ireland Women by 213 runs at the Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protisthan Ground in Savar. West Indies scored 276 for 4 in their 50 overs and then bowled Ireland out for just 63 in a one-sided match. Ireland chose to field but had to wait till the 38th over to make a breakthrough. By then Taylor and Nero had put together a 204-run opening partnership. Nero was run out for 100 and Taylor went on to get 107 before she was dismissed in the 47th over. Ireland's bowlers were wayward and gave away 23 runs in wides. Elena Tice, the 13-year-old legspinner who recently became the second-youngest player to play international cricket, found the going tough and went for 36 in her four overs.

The chase was always going to be difficult but Ireland surrendered without a fight. Shakera Selman struck with the second ball of the innings and then Pearl Etienne picked up three wickets to leave Ireland 20 for 4. Wickets kept tumbling and Ireland were bowled out in 30.1 overs. The highest partnership in their innings was 16, while the top score was Kim Garth's 24. Only one other batsman reached double figures.

Sunette Loubser's five-wicket haul helped South Africa Women win a close, low-scoring game against Sri Lanka Women at the Narayanganj Osmani Stadium in Fatullah. South Africa were bowled out for just 114 in 37 overs and Sri Lanka looked on course to win at 52 for 2 but Loubser ran through the middle order and tail and Sri Lanka fell seven runs short of the target.

Sri Lanka put South Africa in to bat and reduced them to 6 for 2. Shandre Fritz battled and strung together a few decent partnerships. Fritz scored 61 but the last five wickets fell for 16 runs and South Africa were left with a small total to defend. Suwini de Alwis and Sherina Ravikumar took four wickets each for Sri Lanka.

Yasoda Mendis scored 20 and helped Sri Lanka start their chase steadily but wickets began to fell when Loubser came into the attack. Sandamali Dolawatte tried to hold the innings together and scored 28 not out, but Loubser's strikes left Sri Lanka 83 for 9 in the 29th over. Sri Lanka did not give up though: Dolawatte and No. 11 Ravikumar were involved in a remarkable partnership that lasted 19.3 overs but yielded just 25 runs. It looked as if it might take Sri Lanka home, but with six needed off 10 balls to draw level, Ravikumar was dismissed by Chloe Tryon, who finished with figures of 8.2-3-6-1.

Pakistan Women were bowled out for 197 against Bangladesh Women but it was more than enough for a 73-run win at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur. Bangladesh had struggled with the bat against Sri Lanka in the two games they played just before the start of the qualifiers, and the trend continued. All of their top four batsmen got starts but none went past 19. Offspinner Nida Dar rocked the chase with four wickets and Bangladesh were bowled out for 124 in 42.2 overs. Throughout the chase Bangladesh struggled to keep up with the required-rate of just under four runs an over.

Pakistan had reached 197 thanks to Bismah Maroof's 79 off 106 balls. After they had struggled early, Maroof put together a 78-run partnership with Javeria Khan. Maroof carried on after Javeria was dismissed and only fell off the fourth ball of the final over. Bangladesh got wickets of all three balls of the final over - there was a run-out of the last ball - but Pakistan had already reached a total big enough for a victory.

Bangladesh's coach Mamatha Maben said the hosts had been a bit sloppy in their first game of the tournament. "We let too many extras go today which helped Pakistan in creating their total and we missed out on some chances to have them on the back foot, whether it be missed catches or poor fielding," she said. "There is no excuse for our poor batting, especially from the middle order who perhaps came in earlier than they had expected but did not bed in as they should have."

Pakistan's captain Sana Mir said there was room for improvement from her team, particularly in the fielding and batting departments. "Some of our batters, including myself, made some poor shot-selections today which led to us getting out," she said.

Netherlands Women thumped Zimbabwe Women at the Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protisthan Ground in Savar, chasing down a target of 146 in just 25.2 overs. Zimbabwe had chosen to bat but crawled in their innings. Early wickets pegged them back and they were never able to put together decent partnerships. Even though the innings lasted till the penultimate ball of the 50th over, they only managed 145. Netherlands' bowlers shared the wickets around, with offspinner Esther Lanser bagging figures of 10-4-17-3.

The chase got off to a rapid start, with Miranda Veringmeier scoring a run-a-ball 47 and captain Helmien Rambaldo smacking 30 off 24 balls. They were dismissed in quick succession but Kerry-Anne Tomlinson took Netherlands home with an unbeaten 46.