Shafali, Poonam shine as India beat Bangladesh
PERTH: Leg-spinner Poonam Yadav delivered yet again with timely dismissals to lead India to a comfortable 18-run win over Bangladesh in their ICC Women’s T20 World Cup match here on Monday. Invited to bat, a substantial partnership eluded them after a fiery start but India still managed to post a competitive 142/6 at the WACA ground.
India were off to a flying start with opener Shafali Verma (39 of 17 balls) coming out all guns blazing in the Group A game.
However, the Indian innings never got the impetus after the departure of the 16-year-old, who hit four sixes and two fours in her entertaining knock. Later, Veda Krishnamurthy (20 off 11) hit a few lusty blows to help India post a fighting total.
Bangladesh fought through Murshida Khatun (30) and Nigar Sultana (35) but Yadav rattled the middle and lower order with her strikes. In the end, Bangladesh could manage 124 for eight, giving India their second straight win in the tournament, having upset holders Australia first up.
“The way Shafali and Richa played, they showed how capable they are for the team. Veda’s innings was the turning point. We needed boundaries at that point and she did a great job,” India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur said.
Yadav, who had helped India halt Australia’s chase in their opening game as well, was the top bowler again. She scalped Sanjida Islam (10), Fahima Khatun (17) and Jahanara Alam (10) to make it tough for Bangladesh.
Bangladesh needed 49 runs from the last five overs but they failed to negotiate Yadav’s flighted deliveries.
POONAM AGAIN
The India spinner had Fahima caught by Verma the first ball of the 16th over while Rajeshwari Gayakwad saw the back of the well-set Sultana. Yadav returned to dismiss Alam, who stepped out for a big hit only to be stumped.
The runs dried up and Bangladesh now needed 22 off the final over. When pacer Shikha Pandey clean bowled Rumana Ahmed with a perfect yorker, the writing was on the wall.
Earlier, Verma punished the rival attack with her fluent stroke-making. Attempting a big one, Verma skied one off veteran Panna Ghosh and was dismissed, caught by Shamima Sultana.
This was after fellow opener Taniya Bhatia (2) was sent back by Salma Khatun. Verma turned out to be the best scorer in India’s innings. Jemimah Rodrigues played a sedate yet crucial 34-run knock since the hard-hitting Kaur had already been dismissed by Panna Ghosh. With both Verma and Kaur cooling their heels in the dug out, India’s runrate took a dip. Rodrigues erred in judgement calling Deepti Sharma (11) for a single and was run out.
Richa Ghosh, who replaced Smriti Mandhana in the playing XI, hit two splendid boundaries before holing out to Nahida Akter off Salma Khatun. The slide continued with Sharma (11) run out following a mix up with Krishnamurthy.
Brief scores: India 142/6 (S Verma 39, J Rodrigues 34) bt Bangladesh 124/8 (N Sultana 35, M Khatun 30; P Yadav 3/18) by 18 runs.