Sensational by their spinners helped India beat Bangladesh by eight runs in a thrilling second T20I and take an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the three-match series at Shere Bangla National Stadium, here on Tuesday.
After winning the toss and opting to bat first, India had a few batters getting starts but neither could convert, eventually posting only 95 for 8 in 20 overs — their lowest total in T20Is against Bangladesh.
Having a low total on the board, Deepti Sharma (3-12) and Minnu Mani (2-9) spun a web around Bangladesh and shared five wickets between them to keep Bangladesh in check before Shafali Verma cleaned up three tailenders in the final over to finish with 3-15 and bowling out the hosts for 87 runs.
In the run chase, Pooja Vastrakar gave 10 runs in the first over of the innings, which turned out to be the only over of fast bowling in India’s defence. On a spin-friendly surface, India skipper Harmanpreet used five spinners, including part-timers Rodrigues and Shafali to exert pressure.
None of the Bangladesh batters offered their captain Nigar Sultana company as she attempted to keep the fight going with her 55-ball 38. All others struggled to find runs easily and got out in single digits as Mani and Deepti ran through the middle-order.
Nigar, who stitched a crucial 34-run partnership with Shorna and then put on 22 runs with Nahida for the fifth and sixth wicket, was dismissed when Bangladesh were just 10 runs away but in an epic final over collapse, Varma picked three in the space of five balls to help India seal the series with a game to spare.
Earlier, none of the India batters scored more freely than Verma, who made 19 off 13 before falling at the start of the sixth over, soon after India had lost their vice-captain Smriti Mandhana for a run-a-ball 13 in the previous over.
Sultana Khatun handed Harmanpreet, a golden duck next ball and India went into a shell. The next best batting effort was from Amanjot Kaur, who managed to find a couple of boundaries in her 17-ball 14, taking India close to triple figures.
Brief scores:
India 95/8 in 20 overs (Shafali Verma 19; Sultana Khatun 3-21, Fahima Khatun 2-16) beat Bangladesh 87 all out in 20 overs (Nigar Sultana 38; Deepti Sharma 3-12, Shafali Verma 3-15, Minnu Mani 2-9) by 8 runs.
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