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Juairiya Ferdous made her international debut just five months ago, but her innings at the T20 World Cup belied her lack of experience and showed all the hallmarks of fearless youth. The 20-year-old led Bangladesh to a tight six-wicket victory with five balls to spare against tournament debutants Netherlands. Bangladesh had slumped to 85 for 4 while chasing 140, a total built largely around Babette de Leede's half-century for the Dutch.

"Since this was my first match of the tournament and also my first World Cup match, my goal was to do something special and contribute to the team," Ferdous said. "I am happy that I could contribute, even if only a little."

"I focused on how I could make the best use of the power play, and then, once I got set, I wanted to build a bigger innings. That was my plan and what I tried to execute. Maybe I could not apply it perfectly because I got out right after reaching fifty. But until then, I kept trying to play a big innings."
That she was somewhat hard on herself for failing to push on from her second half-century in T20Is, even after setting the foundation for her team's victory, was indicative of her hunger to succeed at this level.

It was Bangladesh's highest successful chase at a T20 World Cup, and it came without any contribution from captain Nigar Sultana, who fell for a duck to a tossed-up delivery from legspinner Caroline de Lange that dipped and sneaked under her bat to hit the off stump.

"When Joty apu [Sultana] got out, it was a bit nerve-racking because she is one of our best batters," Ferdous said. "But I had a lot of confidence in the rest of our batting line-up. I believed that one of them would take the team through to victory, and that is exactly what happened."

Ferdous made her T20I debut during Bangladesh's qualifying campaign for this World Cup in January and scored her maiden fifty against Thailand ten days later. She was part of the home series against Sri Lanka, during which she also made her ODI debut, and the tri-series involving the Netherlands and Scotland in Edinburgh immediately before the World Cup, making this her 15th appearance in the format.

Aggressive from the outset, Ferdous also fell to de Lange, but not before scoring a 32-ball fifty, with seven fours and two sixes. She rode her luck too, and could have been out on the ninth ball of the chase had Sterre Kalis' spectacular attempt diving forward at deep midwicket not been overturned when the third umpire ruled that she didn't get her fingers underneath the ball. It was a big turning point in the game.

Ferdous capitalised on another missed opportunity when Robine Rijke dropped a tough return catch by striking back-to-back fours thereafter. She brought up her milestone with a six off de Lange but fell on the very next ball, cutting straight to point, where Phebe Molkenboer was stationed.

From there, Bangladesh relied on an unbroken stand for the fifth wicket between Sharmin Akhter and Shorna Akter. It was the team's second fifty partnership of the innings - a first for Bangladesh at the T20 World Cup - after Ferdous and Dilara Akter had put on 67 for the first wicket.