Great news! At the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur on the 9th of July, the women’s teams from Bangladesh and India competed in the first match of a three-match Twenty20 International series that was being held between the two countries.
The highlights of this match include the fact that India defeated Bangladesh by a margin of seven wickets in the first game of the three-match T20 series. After losing the toss and asked to bat first, Bangladesh managed to collect 114 runs in their allotted 20 overs, however they did so while losing five wickets. In their reply, India was able to successfully chase down the goal, achieving 115 runs despite losing three wickets in only 16.2 overs of their innings. Harmanpreet Kaur, who is the team’s captain, had an outstanding innings. She scored undefeated 54 runs of 35 balls with six 4’s and two 6’s.
Bangladesh Innings
Shamima Sultana scored 17 runs before getting caught by Jemimah Rodrigues off the bowling of Minnu Mani in the fifth over. This was a dismal beginning for Bangladesh. After Shathi Rani had scored 22 runs, Pooja Vastrakar got rid of her by bowling her out with a perfect ball. The team’s captain, Nigar Sultana, was out due to being run out with just add 2 runs to the total. Shobhana Mostari was outfielded by Shafali Verma, who was assisted by wicketkeeper Yastika Bhatia. She scored 23 runs. After contributing 11 runs to the total, Ritu Moni was eventually out of the game. Shorna Akhtar scored 28 runs off of 28 balls, including two sixes, and remained unbeaten till the end of the innings. For India, one wicket was taken by Vastrakar, Minnu, and Shefali respectively.
India Innings
During India’s innings, the team encountered an early setback while attempting to reach the target of 115 runs. Shafali Verma was dismissed leg before wicket by Marufa Akhtar in the first over, and she did not get a chance to start her account. Jemima Rodrigues scored 11 runs before she got out of Sultana over in 4th over. Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet, who is the captain of the team, put up a partnership that was worth 70 runs. She was dropped on 24. Mandhana played a knock that was for 38 runs with five fours. She did so in 34 balls. Together with Yastika Bhatia, Harmanpreet led India to win with a scorching strike rate of 154. Yastika got nine runs off of 12 balls.
Harmanpreet Kaur was adjuged the Player of the match.
The second match between the two teams is scheduled to take place on July 11 at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Dhaka.
The second game will feature larger stakes as the series goes on. India will attempt to win the series whereas Bangladesh will also be looking to recover from the setbacks they experienced in today’s match. The teams will get a days off to reorganize, plan, and strengthen themselves before continuing. As the teams face off in the fight for victory, brawling competition, strategic gaming, and thrilling moments are to be expected.
Very well written