Bangladesh Women have stunned India Women in the third and final T20I of the series in Dhaka. They chased down 103 runs with more than one over to spare and with four wickets in hand. The hosts will be delighted to get over the line after failing to gun down 96 runs in the previous game. However, having won the first two T20Is already, India Women have won the series by 2-1 margin.
Earlier, India opted to bat first after winning the toss and yet again, vice-captain Smriti Mandhana got out early scoring just one run. Shafali Verma too didn't trouble the scorers much mustering only 11 runs. Jemimah Rodrigues and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur then rebuilt the innings with a 45-run stand for the third wicket. Kaur made sure to hold one end and make sure to rotate the strike regularly.
On the other hand, Rodrigues also batted well to score 28 runs off 26 balls. Things seem to be going to the plan for India when they were 90/3 after 16 overs with their skipper Kaur set for a big score. But once she was dismissed in the 17th over, all hell broke loose and India could only muster 102 runs in their 20 overs. The visitors scored only 12 runs in last four overs for the loss of six wickets.
The harakiri in the final leg of the innings certainly hurt India as Bangladesh started the chase decently this time around. The batters made sure to rotate the strike and played fewer dot balls compared to last match. Senior batter Shamima Sultana hung in the middle nicely while rest of the batters played around her. She scored 42 runs and at one stage, looked set to take her team home. But Bangladesh lost two quick wickets in the 17th over to go six down for just 85 runs and it seemed as if they would crumble under pressure.
But the duo of Ritu Moni and Nahida Akter targetted the debutant Rashi Kanojiya in the final over of her spell to kill the game completely. She was taken for 13 runs in the 18th over and eventually they reached home in the 19th over to complete a stunning victory over India. Only if they had kept their cool in the last game, Bangladesh might have even won the series. Nevertheless, they put on a brilliant show in the dead rubber to make it 2-1 in the series. On the other hand, team India will be disappointed with their batting effort in this series as none of them kicked on apart from Harmanpreet Kaur who had scored a half-century in the series opener as well.
