Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur’s 11th T20I half-century and a top-notch performance from spinners helped the visitors beat Bangladesh by seven wickets at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka on July 9.
Harmanpreet won the toss and opted to field first. Bangladesh openers got off to a cautious start with just 16 runs in the first four overs. Shamima Sultana took on debutant Minnu Mani and hit her for a six and a four. But Mani had the last laugh as Sultana could not time the slog sweep and got caught by Jemimah Rodrigues. After powerplay overs, Bangladesh were 34/1. Shathi Rani switched gears as she hit Amanjot Kumar for three consecutive fours. But Rani got bowled by Pooja Vastrakar trying to go for a big shot.
At halfway stage, Bangladesh were 57/2. Nigar Sultana got run out after a mix-up with Sobhana Mostary in the 11th over. The spinners tightened the screws in the middle overs. Leg-spinner Shafali Verma got into the act as well. Mostary got stumped trying to go for a mindless swing. Shorna Akter hit a couple of sixes to get Bangladesh's score past 100. No a single boundary was scored in the last two overs as Bangladesh posted 114/5. Akter got run out off the penultimate ball of the innings for a run-a-ball 28.
After doing damage with the ball, Shafali could not open her account with the bat and got out lbw on the third ball of the run chase. Rodrigues hit a couple of boundaries but then chopped one on to her stumps off Sultana Khatun's bowling in the fourth over. Smriti Mandhana went for a boundary-hitting spree. Harmanpreet rotated the strike well and India were 61/2 at halfway stage.
The 34-year-old took on Akter and hit her for two consecutive fours in the 11th over. In the next over, she got a reprieve as Khatun dropped her catch. She rubbed salt on Bangladesh's wounds with a six and a four in the 13th over. Mandhana's knock ended in the 14th over as she got stumped off Khatun's bowling. Mandhana's 34-ball 38 included five fours. In the 17th over, Harmanpreet ended the run chase with a six and a four. She remained unbeaten for 54 off 35 balls including six fours and two sixes.
“We were able to execute our plans. It was a great performance by our team. I wanted to see how our bowlers were going to bowl in the first 6 overs. I think Deepti showed her experience. Smriti showed her character today, with that batting line-up you don't need to worry much. We wanted to finish with 4-5 overs left, and we managed to do that,” Harmanpreet said in the post-match presentation.
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