WT20I: Indian batters flop again as B’desh pull off consolation win

Indian batters’ struggles against spin bowling continued as Bangladesh held their nerve to pull off a four-wicket consolation win in the third and final women’s T20 International here on Thursday.

India produced another underwhelming batting performance to end up with 102 for nine after opting to bat.

It seemed Bangladesh, who could not chase 96 in the previous game, had taken the self destructing route again but managed to cross the line in 18.1 overs.

Opener Shamima Sultana (42 off 46) held the innings together for Bangladesh.

India sealed the series 2-1 but their performance left a lot to be desired. The three- match ODI series between the two teams will begin here on July 16.

Batting on spin friendly wickets was the biggest let down as the batters lacked the firepower to put pressure on the slow bowlers. Barring skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, none of the batters could clear the fence in the three games.

The performance of rookie off-spinner Minnu Mani was among the few positive stories to have come out for India.

When the new head coach takes charge of the team, he will have plenty of work to do before the side returns to play the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh next year.

Harmanpreet acknowledged after the game there is scope for a lot of improvement in the following ODI series.

“It will be a low-scoring tournament. We won’t get to see 300 scored in an inning. Need to rotate strike and go over by over. Lots of areas to improve as a team and let’s see how it goes,” she said at the post-match presentation.

On the loss to Bangladesh, Harmanpreet added: “Bangladesh looked very aware today, the way they were batting. Lots of learning for us, the way they took the singles. They did not give us a chance.

“This wicket you need to depend on singles and doubles. Due to our batting collapse, we did not get even 6 runs per over. The gamechanger for us was the last five overs where we did not get what we wanted as we felt the pressure.”