On Tuesday, Bangladesh and India locked horns against each other in the 22nd match of the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup. India won the toss and elected to bat.
India got off to a flying start thanks to the opening pair of Smriti Mandhana (30 runs off 51 balls) and Shafali Verma (42 runs off 42 balls) who stitched a 74 run partnership in 15 overs. This was India’s highest opening stand in this World Cup so far. While the stage was set by the openers for the rest of the Indian batters, Bangladesh had some other plans. Nahida Akter got rid of Mandhana on the last ball of the 15th over and in the very next over Ritu Moni struck twice sending Verma and captain Mithali Raj packing.
From 74 for no loss, India were suddenly struggling at 3-74, with Raj getting out for a first-ball duck. Later, Harmanpreet Kaur and Yastika Bhatia looked to consolidate as they put together 38 runs for the fourth wicket. After the departure of Kaur, India kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Richa Ghosh made a useful contribution of 26 runs off 36 balls and towards the end, Sneh Rana (27 runs off 23 balls) and Pooja Vastrakar (30 not out off 33 balls) helped India post 7-229 in 50 overs. Bhatia top scored with 50 runs off 80 balls.
Consecutive ODI 50s for 🇮🇳 Yastika Bhatia, her 3rd in ODIs ✨
This came in 79 Balls. #CWC22 #INDvBAN @YastikaBhatia pic.twitter.com/xusxg41cjw
— Female Cricket #CWC22 (@imfemalecricket) March 22, 2022
For Bangladesh, right arm seamer Ritu Moni was the pick of the bowlers as she scalped 3-37 in her 10 overs, including two maidens. Moni accounted for the key wickets of Verma, Raj, and Bhatia. She received good support from the left-arm spinner Nahida Akter who chipped in with 2-42 in her nine overs. Jahanara Alam was the other wicket-taker for Bangladesh as she picked up 1-52 in her eight overs. After a scintillating start by India, Bangladesh fought hard to pull back things and restrict India to 229 in 50 overs.
Bangladesh did well to restrict 🇮🇳India to just 229 Runs after a very solid start from the openers.
🇧🇩 need 230 to Win. #CWC22 #INDvBAN #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/0mjCTRxDDu
— Female Cricket #CWC22 (@imfemalecricket) March 22, 2022
India have set a target of 230 for Bangladesh. Can Bangladesh chase down the target to register their second win of their World Cup campaign? Or will India win their third match of the tournament? Stay tuned to find out.
I am a former cricketer having represented Mumbai University at All India University level. I was a part of MCA probables for the U-19 and U-23 age group. I have been an avid cricket writer for the last five years. Currently I am pursuing my Ph.D from IIT Bombay.