BAN vs IND 1st T20I: India clinched the first T20 international against Bangladesh in a one-sided match-up by 7 wickets and 22 balls in hand. The Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur bagged the Player of the Match trophy for her unbeaten 54-run knock of just 35 balls.
India won the toss and elected to bowl first and thus summoned the Tigresses to face the fury of Pooja Vastrakar’s authentic first over that went a maiden. Shamima Sultana pulled some power to bring the first runs with a boundary on the third ball of the second over followed by Shathi Rani’s similar in the next over.
The first four overs of the powerplay went low-key for Bangladesh as only 16 runs had been amassed on the scoreboard. In order to boost the run-rate Shamima traced herself up to hit the first maximum of the match on the second ball of the fifth over and a consecutive boundary before departing prematurely on the fourth ball of the same over bowled by Minnu Mani.
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Sobhana Mostary, the first down, kept the calm needed at that moment and shifted for singles and then came harder with a boundary. Shathi Rani too tried to release the pressure and stood straight with three back-to-back boundaries hence pushing the scoreboard on a high, but she was finally destined to meet her dismissal in the ninth over as Vastrakar got the breakthrough.
New down Nigar Sultana was unfortunate enough to get a run out in the eleventh over followed by a double from Shorna Akter’s bat that slated the scoreboard at just 59 for the loss of 3. Sobhana and Shorna kept the struggle on with only singles coming along to keep the scoreboard moving with only one boundary from the bat of Sobhana before her dismissal in the sixteenth over by Shafali Verma.
Despite the big jolt, Shorna kept her bat swinging in the air as she bounced back harshly to hammer a second six of the innings on the second ball of the seventeenth over followed by another maximum in the next over. Despite the raging thunder on the field, the last two overs could only produce consecutive singles, fine running between the wickets and a run out of Ritu Moni that finally concluded the Bangladesh innings at 114 for the loss of 5.
Considering a low-scoring match-up, the Indian side was at ease as openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma came out to kick the way off but with the shocking dismissal of Verma at a golden duck out of an LBW on the third ball of the very first over things started looking upside down for India.
But Mandhana and the new down Jemimah Rodrigues tried to pull things off with steady stances thus bringing boundaries for their team, one from the bat of the vice-captain and two from Rodrigues before she also departed very early on the last ball of the fourth over. But Mandhana kept the runs amassing as she hammered two consecutive boundaries to shrug any building pressure off.
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The skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and Mandhana took the perfect plight of taking the team to victory with good running between the wickets, keeping it calm and poised with timely boundaries in the likes of one boundary each from both to conclude the powerplay at 41 for the loss of 2.
After incessant rotation of strikes and conceding many singles, it was time for Kaur to take the front seat and hammer two back-to-back boundaries on the fourth and fifth ball of the eleventh over before coming up with the first six of the chase in the thirteenth over followed by a boundary to conclude the over.
On one hand, the Indian innings were solid and concrete with the captain and the vice-captain set on the crease, but on the very another side of the coin, Mandhana shockingly met her dismissal Sultana Khatun got the breakthrough for her team on the first ball of the fourteenth over.
Yastika Bhatia looked much more mature partnering with her captain with the timely singles and rotation of the strikes and her sensibility came to the scene as she fenced her first boundary in the fifteenth over. And the match saw its conclusion with the experienced Kaur finishing things off with a six and a boundary to surpass the target at 108 for the loss of 3.
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