Bangladesh came to the Netherlands for the tournament off a historic Asia Cup campaign, where they knocked India off their perch, and a well-fought 2-1 series win in Ireland.

They have remained unbeaten in the Qualifier, completing emphatic wins of eight wickets twice, seven wickets once, and by 49 runs in the semi-final against Scotland.

Having kept PNG to 84 in the opening match, they bowled out the Netherlands for 42 and UAE for 39. They then restricted Scotland to 76 in a superlative bowling effort to seal a qualification spot.

“Our batters did well to get to 125. It’s not a bad total for a T20I. Our bowling side is strong, so we thought we could win,” said Ahmed after the semi-final on Thursday, 12 July.

Looking forward to featuring in the tournament in the West Indies, she added, “We’re very excited. We were waiting for this time. We played the World T20 2016, so we were waiting for this one as well.”

But she knows the job is not done. There’s still one last match to play on Saturday. “Our first target was qualification. But now, the target is the trophy.”

Addressing the fans, she added, "Thank you to the people of my country. You have always supported us, and continue to do so. Your support has helped us move forward. We are going to the next World T20, so please pray for us. We will do something big there."