The gut-wrenching loss, which went down to the final over, left the Bangladesh players shattered. At the post-match presentation, captain Nigar Sultana described an emotional dressing room but said she was proud of the fight her team showed.

“First of all, I’m really proud of the way my girls fight till the last ball. And I’m sad because they are crying in the dressing room, because they are so young. And I’m really happy the way they have given their 110 per cent today. And they are very emotional right now and they keep believing in themselves that we can get this win. So I think it was a great learning experience for us,” she said.

Dropped chances cost Bangladesh

For Bangladesh, it was a story of missed opportunities. A sharper effort in the field could well have changed the result. After dropping Chloe Tryon, who was at the centre of South Africa’s fightback with a gusty 85-run stand for the sixth wicket alongside Marizanne Kapp, who made 56, Bangladesh De Klerk was dropped on 26, and it turned out to be expensive for Bangladesh.

“This happened in the England game as well. We managed to pick 5 early wickets but the match slipped away after the 30th over. During the break, we were talking about hitting the right lengths. The bowlers did really well. Unfortunately something happened in the middle which happens in the game of cricket. It was a good experience for us. My team is very young but they have shown brilliant courage since that New Zealand game,” said Sultana.

“I will just say that everyone needs to be proud of their efforts. This is not our last game of the tournament. We have 3 more games left. We should be proud and we should keep our heads held high. We gave them a tough fight.”

Bangladesh will next take on Australia on October 16.