Sloppy India stave off spirited Bangladesh

A 5-wicket win with 19 deliveries to spare in pursuit of a 137-run target ought to have highlighted a clinical day for India. Except, they were well off the mark on the field in Manchester, even though it did not hamper a fairly comfortable win over Bangladesh in their T20 World Cup clash on Thursday (June 25).

India brought Renuka Singh Thakur into the XI but threw the opening over to Shafali Verma again. Renuka lost her radar to spear three wides down the leg-side, but she used the extra deliveries to dismiss Dilara Akter cheaply. A sloppy fielding display haunted them again.

Yastika Bhatia dropped a steepler, marking the first of three lives that Juraiya Ferdous would go on to receive. Radha Yadav dropped a sitter at deep mid-wicket. Nandni Sharma was the next culprit, dropping two in as many deliveries. The batters then added three boundaries, taking Bangladesh's score to 40 by the end of the Powerplay. Nandni's struggles extended with a no ball, a wide and two official warnings for running on the danger area, but she clung onto a return catch to dismiss Ferdous.

Bangladesh continued to turn the strike over, though they fancied the short third region as it produced multiple boundaries. Radha brought Sobhana Mostary's sluggish innings to an end before skipper Nigar Sultana stepped on the gas with three boundaries in the 14th over. But the spinners tightened the screws, with Radha having Nigar stumped.

Deepti Sharma was guilty of overstepping on a couple of occasions but continued to be miserly. Sharmin Akhter was retired out after a 12-ball 10, but Ritu Moni could manage a solitary boundary before being cleaned up by Radha. Charani then closed out the innings with a double-wicket over as Bangladesh were restricted to 136.

Shafali Verma powered India along in the chase, beginning with a crunch down the ground. She was dropped by wicketkeeper Nigar in the opening over and that proved severe for Bangladesh as Shafali tore into every bowler, lofting the ball effortlessly. Smriti Mandhana's dismissal did not unsettle India. Yastika Bhatia also started with a boundary and India raced past fifty in the fifth over. Shafali's blitz was the headline act, taking India to their highest Powerplay score in a T20 World Cup contest at 63/1.

She got to her fifty off 29 deliveries but was soon stumped in bizarre fashion. Another dropped chance saw Yastika survive as Rabeya put a sitter down. Richa Ghosh was promoted up the order to finish the chase earlier but was dismissed LBW shortly after Yastika also perished.

That forced a slowdown as Bangladesh's spinners did their best to drag the game. A terrible mix-up saw Jemimah Rodrigues meet skipper Harmanpreet Kaur at the striker's end but a fumble at the bowler's end meant she survived.

Harmanpreet also escaped a run out before Rodrigues slog-swept Shanjida Akter Meghla for a maximum. She also pounced on Ritu for a couple of boundaries before being dismissed, her 15-ball 26 setting things up for Harmanpreet and Deepti to finish the job in the 17th over.

Brief Scores: Bangladesh 136/8 in 20 overs (Juraiya Ferdous 33, Nigar Sultana 32; Radha Yadav 3-28, Shree Charani 2-21) lost to India 139/5 in 16.5 overs (Shafali Verma 53, Jemimah Rodrigues 26; Ritu Moni 2-29) by 5 wickets