India Women defeated Bangladesh to claim T20I series (BCCI Twitter)
Indian women managed to restrict Bangladesh to a total of 87, thereby winning the second T20I by 8 runs after scoring 95/8 themselves and they took a 2-0 lead in the series
Indian Women’s cricket team churned out a thrilling 8-run win over Bangladesh women to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the T20I series. Having won the first match, India managed to restrict the Bangla Tigers to a total of 87 runs in the low-scoring thriller at Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Dhaka, having scored 95 runs after opting to bat first.
Youngster Shafali Verma kept her nerve in the final over as she successfully defended 10 runs from the last six balls, picking up 3 wickets, and there was a run out as well in a dramatic finish to the game.
Earlier, captain Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and elected to bat first, but the decision turned out to back fire as openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali stitched together a 33-run stand but it all went downhill after that.
Shafali was the top-scorer for her side at 19 runs, while Harmanpreet was dismissed on a golden duck.
IND-W VS BAN-W 2nd T20 Highlights: India Beat Bangladesh by 8 Runs, Take Unassailable 2-0 Lead
Yastika Bhatia scored 11, Deepti Sharma added 10 runs to the cause, and Amanjot Kaur also scored 14 to help India reach 95/8. In reply, a strong bowling performance helped the Indian team pull away with a remarkable win as they restricted the hosts to 87.
The outcome of the match could have been very different had Nigar Sultana not decided to throw away her wicket at a crucial juncture of the match, when the Bangladesh captain departed, they suffered a total collapse. She had a catch dropped by Harleen Deol, and a stumping missed from Yastika Bhatia, but the latter redeemed herself in the same over.
Harleen also completed a catch in the last over to amend for her earlier mistake.
The Bangla Tigers suffered a couple of early blows as they came out to chase the required 96-run total.
Minnu Mani removed Shamima Sultana early to draw first blood, after which Deepti Sharma and Bareddy Anusha also joined the party as they jolted the Bangladesh top order.
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Once Nigar was in the middle she played a crucial knock of 38 runs in 55 balls, however, none of the rest of the batters managed to reach double figures. Shorna Akter was the next-highest scorer at 7.
Mani picked up 2 wickets, Deepti got 3 scalps and Shafali’s last over saw her pick up 3 wickets as well. Bareddy opened up her account in T20I cricket with her maiden dismissal of Murshida Khatun.
Deepti was adjudged the Player of the Match for her all-round display.
