- Monday, March 10, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
India were quick to put behind their shocking 13-run loss against arch-rivals Pakistan in the ongoing women’s Asia Cup in Bangladesh as they beat the hosts and defending champions by 59 runs on Saturday (8) to inch closer to the semi-finals.
The six-time champions, who narrowly lost against Pakistan on Friday (7), came up with a strong performance against Bangladesh to pick up their fourth win of the tournament in five outings.
The Women in Blue came up with a clinical show with their bowling to choke the Bangladeshi chase after their batters played decently to set up a target of 160 in 20 overs.
India were led into the match by their ace batter Smriti Mandhana as their regular captain Harmanpreet Kaur, who batted at No.7 against Pakistan, did not play the game at Sylhet International cricket Stadium. Mandhana won the toss and elected to bat on a pitch where chasing teams have struggled and along with Shafali Verma (55 off 44), she (47 off 38) gave India a solid start to put up 96 runs in 12 overs. Jemima Rodrigues’s 35 not out off 24 helped India to keep the scoreboard ticking but Bangladesh’s leg-break bowler Rumana Ahmed took three wickets for 27 runs in three overs to keep India’s scoring under check. Mandhana’s side lost some quick wickets in the middle order and finished at 159 for 5 in 20 overs.
Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana used as many seven bowlers but did not make Ahmed bowl her entire quota of four overs.
During their chase, Bangladesh openers started well but consumed too many balls that only increased the pressure on them. Fargana Hoque scored 30 off 40 balls while Murshida Khatun made 21 off 25. The partnership was broken by spinner Sneh Rana and the home team was still below 50 in the 10th over. Sultana, who is also her team’s wicket-keeper, scored 36 off 29 balls at No.3 but never got the support she required to see her side through. Bangladesh kept on losing wickets regularly and managed 100 runs for the loss of seven wickets in their 20 overs. For India, spinner Deepti Sharma and irregular bowler Shafali Verma took two wickets each.
Verma was adjudged the player of the match.
Both India and Bangladesh play their next match on Monday (10). While India will take on Thailand, Bangladesh will be locking horns with Sri Lanka. The winners of the game will go closer to the last four.
Brief scores: India 159/5 in 20 overs (Shafali Verma 55, Smriti Mandhana 47, Rumana Ahmed 3/27) beat Bangladesh 100/7 in 20 overs (Nigar Sultana 36, Fargana Hoque 30, Shafali Verma 2/10) by 59 runs.
