Match Details
They batted brilliantly and found the boundaries on a consistent basis. Verma in particular was at her imperious and looked set for a big one. After an opening stand of 74 runs, it was Smriti Mandhana who was dismissed by Nahid Akhter of a long hop and that brought about two more in no time. Both Shafali Verma and Mithali Raj were dismissed in successive deliveries as India were reduced to 74/3 from 74/0.
From there on it was a good partnership between Harmanpreet Kaur and Yastika Bhatia which got India back into the game. Bhatia looked in good touch and played some delightful shots to get going, Just when Harmanpreet Kaur was coming into her own, she misjudged a run and was sent back by a brilliant direct throw by Fargana Hoque. Richa Ghosh then shared a good stand with Yastika Bhatia as the duo steadied the ship.
Bhatia went onto complete a well-deserved half-century while Ghosh contributed a 36 balls 26. Both looked in good touch but fell in quick succession. Yet again it was Pooja Vastrakar and Sneh Rana who provided the late impetus which ensured that India eventually reached a competitive score of 229 on the board. While Vastrakar remained unbeaten on 30, Rana chipped in with a 23 balls 27.
Bangladesh could never really get going in the run-chase. Barring a sensational six of the blade of Murshiida Khatun of Jhulan Goswami in the powerplay, the Indian bowlers were all over the Bangladesh batters not giving them any opportunity to let loose. Rajashwari Gayakwad got the maiden breakthrough in the form of Sharmin Akhter’s wicket and that started the downward slide for Bangladesh.
The spin trio of Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Sneh Rana and Poonam Yadav spun a web around the Bangladesh batters and they could never really recover from their torrid start. They kept sliding down the barrel while Sneh Rana in particular kept chipping away with the wickets. Gayakwad bowled brilliantly but only bagged a wicket but Rana was at her imperious best bagging a four-wicket haul as Bangladesh were bowled out for 119 runs.