New Delhi: For three matches in a row now, Shafali Verma took the game out of the equation in the PowerPlay itself. For India, she’s turning out to be one of their most valuable players – impactful with the bat with 145 runs so far and five wickets so far – she has been a consistent performer. On Thursday, her 53 off 34 balls ensured India beat Bangladesh by five wickets at Old Trafford.
Chasing 137, Smriti Mandhana (8) departed early but Shafali stitched a 43-run partnership with Yastika Bhatia to lay a platform en route with a 137-run chase. Following that partnership,
Bangladesh’s spinners bounced back in the middle overs as India lost wickets in quick succession as Bhatia, Shafalli and Richa Ghosh departed one after another during the middle overs. However, with a small target to knock down, Jemimah Rodrigues (26) provided the finishing touches to seal the game in 16.5 overs.
Earlier, India ensured they tried out each of their players in the squad – forced by both injury to Shreyanka Patil and also in an attempt to find their Best XI as they included Renuka Thakur and Radha Yadav in the XI today.
Opting to bat first, Bangladesh’s Juairiya Ferdous, Shobhana Mostary and Nigar Sultana got off to starts but could not capitalise. Renuka Thakur – in her first game of the competition – struck in her very first over. Opener Dilara Akter (4) went for the pull but could not clear Sree Charani at deep square leg.
Charani (2/21), who is having a memorable T20 WC, bowled a brilliant 20th over, picking up two wickets and giving away only three runs. Radha (3/28) had a good day with the ball as she removed opposition captain Nigar Sultana (32) and Mostary (22) in quick succession.
However, if India are to push for a place in the semi-finals, they will be wary of repeating the abysmal fielding display in the must-win game against Australia. They dropped four catches in the Powerplay, misfielded late into the innings. Dropped catches were a big reason for why South Africa went on to win the previous fixture. Besides the dropped catches, India bowled seven wides and three no-balls.
The biggest beneficiary of India’s misfields was Juairiya Ferdous, who was dropped thrice by the fifth over, and went on to score 33. They finished with 136/8.