Harmanpreet Kaur led from the front with a stroke-filled and unbeaten 54 as India Women registered a comprehensive seven-wicket victory over Bangladesh Women in the first T20I of the series held at Mirpur on Sunday.
Bangladesh couldn’t even manage a run a ball with the bat, and despite at the start, India eased home with 22 balls remaining. However, more than the game, the standard of the field of play, and the baffling Bengali-English mixed commentary, in which the commentators kept on mispronouncing the names of the players while calling the batters batsmen, caught the ire of the fans on social media.
After the grand success of the Women’s Premier League, one would have hoped for better standard of broadcast in women’s cricket but the Bangladesh Cricket Board simply failed to deliver the goods, restricting the game to below-standard commentary while live-streaming it on their YouTube channel. It is hard to understand why there is no official broadcaster for the series, despite all the star Indian players featuring in it.
Anyway, coming back to the game, Harmanpreet, the India captain, elected to bowl first on winning the toss, and Bangladesh Women opened their innings with Shathi Rani and Shamima Sultana. However, the Indian bowlers got off to a strong start, with Pooja Vastrakar bowling a maiden over. The pressure continued to build as the Bangladeshi batters struggled to find boundaries.
Minnu Mani, making her senior India debut, provided the breakthrough by dismissing Shamima, caught by Jemimah Rodrigues for 17. Shathi Rani tried to stabilize the innings, but was soon clean bowled by Vastrakar for 22. The Bangladeshi batters struggled to build partnerships and were restricted to a total of 114-5 in their 20 overs. Vastrakar, Shafali Verma, and Mani each took a wicket for India.
In response, India Women started cautiously but lost Shafali early, given out LBW off a delivery from Marufa Akter. Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues then tried to rebuild the innings, but Rodrigues was bowled by Sultana Khatun for 11.
Harmanpreet joined Mandhana at the crease, and they formed a crucial partnership. Mandhana played aggressively, hitting boundaries, while Kaur provided stability. They took India past the 50-run mark, and Harmanpreet reached her half-century with a six. She remained unbeaten on 54, guiding India to a seven-wicket victory with 3.4 overs to spare. Yastika Bhatia contributed nine unbeaten runs.
Harmanpreet was Player of the Match for her match-winning unbeaten half-century. With this victory, India Women took a 1-0 lead in the three-match T20I series. The second game will be played at the same venue on Tuesday, July 11.