Keeping it simple, China's captain makes history

“I've been working in China for the last eight years and I've seen them growing. This is one of the milestones they've crossed, that they started believing in themselves, that they can beat better teams. This win will give them a boost and confidence for the future,” says Mohammad Aminul Islam, ICC Development Officer for Asia and Bangladesh's first Test centurion.

Zhou herself, whom Aminul describes as “dedicated, polite and hard-working”, says she “met cricket” in 2006. “I think it is very fun. Because the game is like a big family. The players support each other. And we have a lot of fun.”

A PE teacher and cricket coach when she's not representing her country, she hopes to share her love for the game with the students. For now though, while China may not have qualified for the semi-finals to decide the two teams who will make it to the main event in India, there's still a lot to play for in the Shield semi-final.

“In China there is no ground like this one (in Bangkok). So everytime we play, we cherish it. So we have to enjoy the game. If we lost the match, then we lost. But we have to push ourselves,” says Zhou.

“If we can do our best, then results will come very soon. We have to do our best.”