Indian women start World Twenty20 on winning note

India ran up its highest-ever T20I total of 163, comfortably surpassing its previous best of 151, also against Bangladesh in the last edition, and then restricted the opposition to emerge victorious by 72 runs.

Published : Mar 15, 2016 18:46 IST , Bengaluru

Harmanpreet Kaur in action against Bangladesh.
Harmanpreet Kaur in action against Bangladesh.
lightbox-info

Harmanpreet Kaur in action against Bangladesh.

India made a mincemeat of Bangladesh to get its ICC Women’s World Twenty20 campaign to an emphatic start at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Tuesday.

India ran up its highest-ever T20I total of 163, comfortably surpassing its previous best of 151, also against Bangladesh in the last edition, and then restricted the opposition to emerge victorious by 72 runs.

Bangladesh did manage to play out the full quota of 20 overs and lost only five of its wickets but at no point did its innings show even the slightest sign of accelerating. Only Nigar Sultana scored more than run-a-ball (27 not out off 25) as the Indian spinners suffocated the batswomen.

Read: >Harmanpreet: We are not dependent on Mithali

Earlier, after having been put into bat, Mithali Raj (42 off 35 balls) and V. R. Vanitha (38 off 24 balls) laid a solid foundation. They brought up the team’s 50 in just 5.2 overs. Salma Khatun, of whom much was expected, continued her poor run, conceding four boundaries in her first two overs, and was duly taken off.

Bangladesh’s ground fielding – so good against Ireland in the practise game – left much to be desired. Khadija tul Kubra even dropped Mithali off her own bowling on 28 though the Indian skipper went on to make only 14 more.

The visitor did try pulling things back by claiming the wickets of Vanitha and Smriti Mandhana within a space of one over. Left-arm spinner Nahida Akter bowled a tight line as India, after threatening to gallop away, was 73 for two in 10 overs.

However, Bangladesh couldn’t weather the twin onslaughts later on – first by Harmanpreet Kaur (40 off 29 balls) and then by Veda Krishnamurthy (36 not out off 24 balls) – as India ended pretty much the same way it started – hammering 55 runs in the final five overs.

Brief scores:

India Women 163 for 5 in 20 overs (Mithali Raj 42, Vellaswamy Vanitha 38, Harmanpreet Kaur 40; Fahima Khatun two for 31, Rumana Ahmed two for 35) bt Bangladesh Women 91 for 5 in 20 overs (Nigar Sultana 27 not out.; Anuja Patil two for 16, Poonam Yadav two for 17) by 72 runs.

Sign in to unlock all user benefits
  • Get notified on top games and events
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign up / manage to our newsletters with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early bird access to discounts & offers to our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide to our community guidelines for posting your comment