Sana Mir's Pakistan defeated hosts Bangladesh by 73 runs in a hard-fought game played in front of strong home support. Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium saw over 4000 supporters fill the stands to cheer on the Bangladesh women's side in its first round of the tournament that could see it qualify for the ICC Women's World Cup in 2013.

In front of a lively crowd and playing live on national television, Bangladesh lost the toss and were put into field first in Mirpur - a decision that Mir may have regretted after some tight bowling from Salma Khatun and her bowling attack. Khatun was instrumental in the dismissal of the opener, Mir, after the 25-year-old mistimed a hit off the bowling of Lata Mondol to give the captain a nifty catch.

The rest of the Pakistan top order performed well with the bat, with the standout performance coming from Bismah Maroof with her patient 79 off a 106 balls, the 20-year-old from Lahore was dismissed by in-form bowler Khadiza Tul Kubra who had Bismah caught by Khatun. The Bangladeshi captain had a strong game in the field, claiming two wickets and three catches to see Pakistan 197 all out in its allotted overs.

In reply, Bangladesh's batting attack failed to have a response to the strong bowling from the Pakistanis, with the side managing to make just 99 runs, while Pakistan's bowlers gave away some 15 extras to give the Bangladeshis a total of 114 all out in just 42.4 overs. Nida Rashid proved to be the star bowler of the side with four wickets for just 29 runs, however, Bismah also claimed 2-16 and was judged by the on-field umpires to be most deserving candidate for Player of the Match award.

Bangladesh's coach Mamatha Maben admitted that the Group B game had been tough with some areas needing to be worked, especially the middle order batting performance.

'We let too many extras go today which helped Pakistan in creating their total and we missed out on some chances to have them on the back-foot, whether it be with missed catches or poor fielding on our part. We let the Pakistanis create a partnership in the middle with Bismah and also Qanita Jalil showed some good batting which meant our bowlers couldn't finish what they had started.

'There is no excuse for our poor batting, especially from the middle order who perhaps came in earlier than they had expected but they did not bed in as they should have. We need an improvement from Salma (Khatun), Sukatara (Rahaman) and also (Fargana) Pinky tomorrow - they can all bat but they played poor shots today and should have known better. The tail were more cautious simply because they came in with a mountain to do and currently the side needs to regain its confidence after this innings and move on for tomorrow's crucial game against Ireland.

'It's important to beat a team like Ireland, because realistically we have a chance against them and Japan and we will give West Indies our best effort but we know they are the strongest team in this group so for now it's about ensuring we beat Ireland tomorrow.'

Pakistan's captain was pleased with her side's performance today but admitted there was still room for improvement, she said: 'It's great to start with a win and it was very much a team effort out there today. We bowled well, however we definitely gave away too many extras and that needs to be improved before our next game and also we need to get our fielding tighter.

'Some of our batters, including myself, made some poor shot selections today which led to us getting out but with the likes of Bismah stepping up to the plate I was pleased and we now all need to learn from this and improve ahead of our next game.'

At Khanshaheb Osman Ali Stadium, South Africa took on Sri Lanka in a match that looked destined for Dilani Manodara's side to win but Sunette Loubser's off-spin proved a negating factor for the Asian side and they fell six runs short of the target set by the Africans.

South Africa's opening batter, Shandre Fritz proved the most successful of the team line-up with 61 runs, but the rest of her side failed to sparkle in the ODI, with none of the top order, making more than four runs. New captain Mignon du Preez managed just 14 runs, as the middle and lower order collapsed to the bowling of the Sri Lankan duo Sherina Ravikumar and Suwini de Alwis.

In response, Sri Lanka's top order made slow progress on the reaching its target of 115, Sandamali Dolawatte the pick of the batters with 29 not out, but with little to no support from her fellow team-mates. South Africa's off-spinner Loubser was the key factor for the Du Preez's side, claiming key wickets in both the top, middle and lower order to make sure Dolawatte was left stranded as the side fell to 108 all out - so close and yet so far from victory in its opening fixture.