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 in Manchester on Thursday (June 25).

India brought Renuka Singh Thakur into the XI but threw the opening over to Shafali Verma again. The offie started tidily and while Renuka lost her radar to spear three wides down the leg-side, she made use of the extra deliveries to dismiss Dilara Akter cheaply. India ought to have picked up more Powerplay wickets though on a pitch that was slow and aided turn, but 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 was brought in for her first game of the tournament but her catching woes spilled over from the South Africa fixture as she dropped a sitter at deep mid-wicket. Nandni Sharma was the next culprit, dropping two in as many deliveries - first at cover and then at short third - as Shree Charani saw a third chance go down off her bowling. The batters then added three boundaries, taking Bangladesh's score to 40 by the end of the Powerplay. Nandni's struggles extended in the form of a no ball, a wide and two official warnings for running on the danger area. But for all of that, she had something going her way as she clung onto a return catch to dismiss Ferdous.

Bangladesh continued to turn the strike over even as they weren't fluent with their run-scoring, though they fancied the short third region as it produced multiple boundaries through the course of the innings. 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 sent down by Nandni. But the spinners tightened the screws as Bangladesh went 22 deliveries without scoring a boundary, with Radha having Nigar stumped by a clever piece of bowling.

Deepti Sharma was guilty of overstepping on a couple of occasions but she continued to be miserly as Bangladesh never managed to accelerate. Sharmin Akhter was retired out after a 12-ball 10, but Ritu Moni, who replaced her, could manage a solitary boundary before being cleaned up by Radha. Charani then closed out the innings with a double-wicket over, fittingly reversing her fortunes after the string of drops early on as Bangladesh were restricted to 136.

Shafali Verma powered India along in the chase, beginning with a crunch down the ground to get off the mark. She was dropped by wicketkeeper Nigar in the opening over and that would go on to prove severe for Bangladesh as Shafali tore into every bowler in sight, lofting the ball effortlessly and using her strong bottom hand to the best effect. Smriti Mandhana's dismissal did not unsettle India, who rode on Shafali to kill the chase early in the piece. Yastika Bhatia also started with a boundary and India raced past fifty in the fifth over. But 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 in style, steering the ball to the extra cover fence but was soon stumped in bizarre fashion as she chopped the ball in front of the 'keeper before stepping out of her crease. Another dropped chance saw Yastika survive as Rabeya put a sitter down off her own bowling. Richa Ghosh was promoted up the order, presumably to finish the chase earlier with net run-rate in mind. She was on 1 off 5 before she broke free with a couple of boundaries but was dismissed LBW shortly after Yastika also perished.

That forced a slowdown as Bangladesh's spinners did their best to drag the game with skipper Nigar having an animated chat with her players during the drinks interval. 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 that she survived.

Harmanpreet also escaped a run out before Rodrigues slogswept Shanjida Akter Meghla over long on for a maximum before backing it up with a crunch through extra cover. She also pounced on Ritu for a couple of boundaries and while she was immediately dismissed, her 15-ball 26 set things up for Harmanpreet and Deepti to finish the job in the 17th over, taking India to their third win of the tournament with 19 deliveries to spare.

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