India defeated Bangladesh in the first T20I at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka with ease, winning by 7 wickets and taking a 1-0 series lead thanks in large part to Harmanpreet Kaur’s unbeaten 35-ball 54.
When Marufa Akter caught Shafali Verma leg-before for a duck in the first over, the 115-run chase for the visitors got off to a shaky start. Three overs later, Jemimah Rodrigues followed her to the pavilion by cutting Sultana Khatun’s delivery back onto her stumps, reducing India to 21 for 2 in just four overs. But in the midst, the vice captain and captain of India combined their efforts to save the team. A solid 70-run partnership between Harmanpreet and Smriti Mandhana for the third wicket laid the groundwork for India’s triumph.
Mandhana started moving right away. She didn’t hold back after losing Rodrigues and hit boundaries with two straight short deliveries from Akter. In the subsequent over, she again dealt with Khatun’s half-tracker as India sped to 41 at the end of the powerplay.
Before Harmanpreet attacked Nahida Akter in the eleventh over and clubbed her for two consecutive boundaries, the pair resumed their strike rotation through the middle overs, scoring singles and twos. The following day, Khat attempted a slog, which nearly ended her life. But the bowler was unable to maintain his grip on the leading edge. In the following over, she went to Rabeya Khan and carted a six.
India was on track to win even though Mandhana’s attempt to keep up the tempo with her partner failed as she was stumped off Khatun’s bowling in the following over. Hampanpreet hit her second six in the 17th over, bringing her total to fifty and tying the game.
Bangladesh was batted first earlier in the day and limited to 114 for 5. Even though Pooja Vastrakar’s first over was a maiden, Shathi Rani and Shamima Sultana had a strong start to their innings. Midway through their innings, at 58 for 2, Bangladesh was in a stable position even when the two left. They had trouble, though, particularly during the middle overs, locating the extra gear. Shobana Mostary stumbled her way to a 33-ball 23 before Shafali Verma stumped her.
Bangladesh was held to a score below par despite Shorna Akter’s run-per-ball 28, which included two sixes, being the highest score of the innings. There was little help from the other end.
Short scores: India defeated Bangladesh 118/3 in 16.2 overs (Harmanpreet Kaur 54*, Smriti Mandhana 38; Sultana Khatun 2-25) by 7 wickets. Bangladesh’s total was 117/5 in 20 overs (Shorna Akter 28, Shobana Mostary 23, Pooja Vastrakar 1-16).
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