Cricket

Spinners, Harmanpreet seal comfortable win for India in rain-hit match

India 122 for 6 (Harmanpreet 39, Ghosh 24, Marufa 2-24, Rabeya 2-28) beat Bangladesh 68 for 7 (Dilhara 21, Deepti 2-13, Asha 2-18) by 56 runs via DLS method

Harmanpreet Kaur and spinners combined to hand India a comfortable 56-run win against Bangladesh in the rain-hit fourth T20I. India’s dominance continued in Sylhet as they went 4-0 up in the five-match series.

Harmanpreet, playing her 300th international game, top-scored with a brisk 39 to lift the visitors to a competitive 122 for 6 in 14 overs after being asked to bat on a cloudy day. Chasing a revised DLS target of 125, Bangladesh lost a flurry of wickets to post 66 for 7. S Asha – India’s oldest debutant in women’s T20Is at 33 – and Deepti Sharma starred with two wickets each.

The home side, which made three changes from the XI that played the third game, was never in the chase on a sluggish surface. After Deepti handed the first breakthrough for India with the wicket of Murshida Khatun in the fourth over, she went on to dismiss Dilhara Akter (21 off 25). Rubya Haider (13 off 17) was then run out after a mix-up with captain Nigar Sultana in the eighth over.

Asha’s maiden wicket was the prized scalp of Sultana, who couldn’t read a googly on the stumps and ended up being trapped lbw. The legspinner added one more wicket when she dismissed Shorna Akter, having the batter mis-time a slog-sweep only to be caught by Richa Ghosh off a leading edge. Asha finished her quota of three overs with figures of 2 for 18.

Bangladesh’s batting collapse continued to haunt them in the series as they slid from 38 for 1 to 47 for 6 to lose the plot and the game.

Harmanpreet, Richa power India

India lost Shafali Verma early for a four-ball 2 in the second over. D Hemalatha played a cameo of 22 off 14, hitting two fours and as many sixes, which included two powerful lofted drives over extra cover. However, her stay was cut short by the young fast bowler Marufa Akther who trapped her lbw with an inswinger. India reached 48 for 2 in 5.5 overs before rain halted the game for an hour.

Once the play resumed, Smriti Mandhana got going to make an 18-ball 22 but was bowled by Rabeya Khan. But India did not slow down, thanks to Harmanpreet and Richa Ghosh.

The duo put on 44 runs off just 28 balls for the fourth wicket. Harmanpreet picked up pace after Mandhana’s dismissal as she went from 10 off 8 to 39 off 26 balls, hitting five fours. Ghosh played a 15-ball 24 and hit three fours and a six as India accumulated 52 runs in the last five overs. Though several shots were coming off edges, India scored quickly to put up a solid target in 14 overs.

India will be eying a series sweep when they take on the field for the final game on May 9.