Dhaka [Bangladesh], July 13 : After the team’s four-wicket defeat, India captain Harmanpreet Kaur praised the Bangladesh team for the way they batted till the end and said that the hosts did not give them a chance to turn the tide in their favour.
Shamima Sultana's fiery knock of 42 runs helped Bangladesh clinch a 4-wicket victory against India in the third and final T20I of the three-match series at Shere Bangla National Stadium on Thursday. India clinched the three-match T20I series 2-1.
"Bangladesh looked aware today, the way they were batting. Lots of learning that we will take. They did not give us a single chance to take the game. We need to stay positive and see what can be done," Harmanpreet Kaur said in a post-match presentation.
India was once again tormented by the Bangladesh spinners, much like in the second T20I. Smriti Mandhana continued to struggle against off-spin as she was out after Sultana's first delivery. While Bangladesh's spinner bowled 16 overs in the second T20I, they had spinners on for 17 overs on Thursday with India facing 44 dots against them.
"For this wicket, we needed to depend on singles. Our batting collapsed; we could not get even six runs an over. The five overs were the game-changer. We did not get the total we were expecting," Harmanpreet added.
After clinching the T20I series, India will now focus on the three-match ODI series that begins on July 16. The second and the third ODI will be played on July 19 and July 22 respectively.
"This will be a low-scoring tournament. We need to keep rotating the strike and focus on the dot balls. We need to set up long-term goals. Let's see how we plan the next three games," said the India captain.
"Their young bowlers did not give us anything. One more girl, she bowled well today. Youngsters not only Minnu Mani and Jemimah Rodrigues also bowled today. It's a great opportunity and we are getting a new bowler who is keen to bowl," she added.
Coming to the match, India's batting collapsed again which cost them the match. Shamima Sultana led the chase to give hosts Bangladesh a consolation win in the last T20I.
Defending 102, India got off to a fine start with Minnu Mani drawing the first blood, dismissing Shathi Rani for 10 in the second over of the game. Mani struck again in the 4th over as she removed Dilara Akter for 1, leaving Bangladesh struggling at 16/2.
Shamima Sultana and captain Nigar Sultana then handled the charge for Bangladesh as they kept gathering singles at regular intervals, keeping the scoreboard ticking.
Shamima slammed Rashi Kanojiya for two back-to-back fours in the 11th over of the match. The solid partnership between the Bangladesh duo was broken as Devika Vaidya delivered a fine ball to dismiss Nigar Sultana for 14.
The right-handed batter Shorna Akter came out to bat, but could not do much as Jemimah Rodrigues sent her packing after she had scored two runs in the 14th over.
With a 46-ball 42, Shamima Sultana kept Bangladesh in the game before a brief middle-order collapse threatened to spoil the good work. Shamima Sultana was run out on 42.
Nahida Akter's composed six-ball 10 and Sultana Khatun's eight-ball 12 helped Bangladesh defeat India for the third time in 16 women's T20Is.
Earlier, India was once again tormented by the Bangladesh spinners, much like in the second T20I. Smriti Mandhana continued to struggle against off-spin as she was out after Sultana's first delivery.
Attempting to flick, Mandhana was a step ahead of the wicketkeeper and managed to obtain a leading edge, which Fahima Khatun pouched after darting to her right from slip. Shafali Verma danced down the track during Sultana's subsequent over and blasted the ball directly to long-on. After Sultana and Shafali were both denied width outside off and had two fielders deep on the leg side to limit their options for scoring boundaries, Shafali was kept quiet by seamer Marufa Akter.
Shorna Akter then struck in her first over, having Jemimah Rodrigues caught and bowled as India fell from 91 to 3 to 102 for 9. Pooja Vastrakar, Deepti Sharma, and Minnu Mani all succumbed to spin in an effort to drive the tempo to the death, while Yastika Bhatia failed to connect an attempted heave legspinner Rabeya Khan to be caught lbw. While attempting to hit over the line, Vastrakar was taken down by a straight ball from Nahida, while Mani was cleaned up while attempting a scoop. Then, on the penultimate ball of the innings, Deepti holed out to deep midwicket, giving Rabeya a three-for.
At the end of 15 overs, India was at 86/3. Harmanpreet Kaur carried on her fight, stitching another valuable 26-run partnership with Yastika Bhatia. Fahima Khatun ended Harman's valiant stay at the crease and she scored 40 in 41 balls, consisting of three fours and a six. India was at 91/4 in 16.2 overs.
Wickets kept falling for India as they lost three quick wickets and sunk to 97/7 in 18.4 overs. India crossed the 100-run mark in 19.2 overs. Rabeya Khan dismissed Deepti Sharma (4) and Minnu Mani (1) in the final over. India finished at 102/9 in 20 overs.
Rabeya Khan (3/16) was the pick of the bowlers for Bangladesh. Sultana Khatun (2/17) also took two wickets. Nahida, Fatima and Shorna got one wicket each.
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