The Indian women’s cricket team is on the brink of a historic clean sweep against Bangladesh having taken a 4-0 lead with a rather comfortable victory by 56 runs on DLS method in a rain-curtailed game on Monday, May 6 in Sylhet. The match was reduced to a 14-over-a-side contest and the Indian batters came out all guns blazing, showing the intent to get to a strong score. Yes, they did lose wickets at regular intervals but the fearlessness on the show was a good reminder that this line-up can bat like that when required.
Shafali Verma got out cheaply but Smriti Mandhana and Dayalan Hemalatha played their part with impactful 22 each. Hemalatha in particular was aggressive and hit two fours and as many sixes in her short burst. Then came skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, who too looked to take attack to the opposition.
After both Mandhana and Hemalatha got out, Richa Ghosh joined forces with Harmanpreet to get a few more quick runs for the side. The duo stitched a 44-run stand off just 28 balls and the team score went beyond 100. Ghosh got out after scoring 24 but a few lusty blows from the skipper at the end and another late cameo from S Sajana pushed India’s score to 122.
Bangladesh needed to bat out of their skins to chase down 125 in 14 overs and the spin chokehold from India began from the outset with Deepti Sharma getting the opener Murshida Khatun early. Deepti struck again immediately after the powerplay before the oldest debutant for Indian women’s team Asha Sobhana got into her work with a couple of wickets. There was a lot of praying and gratitude from Asha after she got her main scalp as it meant a lot for her after a sensational couple of seasons in the Women’s Premier League following years of toiling in domestic cricket.
After which it was a formality as the Bangladesh batters struggled and kept hitting out eventually to be restricted to just 68 runs and the Women in Blue completed yet another solid win. Skipper Harmanoreet Kaur was adjudged the player of the match for her 26-ball 39, which laid the platform for India to get to 122.