Bangladesh continued their perfect run in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifiers, beating Ireland by nine runs at the Mulpani Cricket Ground on Saturday to make it four wins from four matches.

Growing up in rural Bangladesh, Marufa had to fight for the opportunity to play cricket, and then moving to the Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protishtan, the national sports institute, she began to believe. 

It feels like a lifetime ago that rockstar Alyssa Healy and pop star Katy Perry lit up the MCG at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020.