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India Women came up with a clinical effort to get the better of Bangladesh Women by seven wickets in Mirpur on Sunday in the first T20I of the three-match series.
Fielding first after winning the toss, India held Bangladesh to 114/5. The visitors chased down the target in 16.2 overs as skipper Harmanpreet Kaur hammered an unbeaten half-century.
Bangladesh got off to a decent start with the bat as Shathi Rani (22 off 26) and Shamima Sultana (17 off 13) added 27 runs for the opening wicket. The partnership was broken when debutant off-spinner Minnu Mani (1/21) dismissed Sultana. Pooja Vastrakar then cleaned up Rani. The Indian pacer stifled the hosts with figures of 1/16, which included a maiden as well.
Bangladesh suffered a massive setback when skipper Nigar Sultana (2) was run out following a horrible mix-up with Sobhana Mostary. The latter struggled for 23 off 33 balls and was eventually stumped off Shafali Verma’s bowling. Ritu Moni (11 off 13) was also run-out off the penultimate delivery of the innings, while Shorna Akter remained unbeaten on a run-a-ball 28.
For India, while Vastrakar, Mani, and Shafali claimed one wicket each, Deepti Sharma conceded only 14 runs in her four overs. Debutant left-arm spinner Bareddy Anusha was also economical, giving away just 24 runs in her four overs.
Harmanpreet, Mandhana guide India’s chase against Bangladesh
Chasing 115, India lost Shafali for a duck as she was trapped lbw by Marufa Akter. Jemimah Rodrigues (11) then inside-edged a length ball from Sultana Khatun onto her stumps. A third-wicket stand of 70 between senior batters Smriti Mandhana (38 off 34) and Harmanpreet (54* off 35), however, eased the path for India’s victory.
Mandhana struck five fours before being stumped off Sultana Khatun’s bowling. She was beaten in the air as she went down the track to a tossed-up delivery. Indian captain Harmanpreet hit six fours and two sixes to take the team past the finish line.
The aggressive batter brought up victory in style, smashing Khatun for six and four off consecutive deliveries. The maximum also saw Harmanpreet reaching her half-century.
