Indian women's cricket team recorded another easy 21-run win to beat Bangladesh in the fifth and final T20I match at Sylhet International Cricket Stadium on Thursday. In-form spinner Radha Yadav produced another match-winning display to lead the Women in Blue to a 5-0 clean sweep against rivals.
Indian batters finally produced their best performance to post a 156/5 total with Dayalan Hemalatha top-scoring with 37 runs off 28 balls. Bangladesh kept the game alive in the early stages but Radha picked three wickets for 24 to restrict the hosts to a 135/6 total. This was India's fifth clean sweep in T20I cricket history and third against Bangladesh.
The star batter Smriti Mandhana scored crucial 33 runs and finished the five-match series as the highest run-scorer. Radha emerged as the highest wicket-taker with 10 scalps in five innings and won the Player of the Series award.
Shafali Verma's inconsistent form continued as she scored just 14 runs and finished the series with 98 runs in five innings. Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and Hemalatha added 60 runs for the third wicket with the former scoring 30 runs.
Richa Ghosh displayed her finishing skills by smashing 28 runs off just 17 balls but Sajeevan Sajana failed to impress again. For the hosts, Rabeya Khan and Nahida Akter took two wickets each while Sultana Khatun bagged one.
Bangladesh struggled for a promising start again with Dilara Akter getting dismissed by Radha on just four runs. Radha claimed two more valuable wickets to keep Bangladesh under pressure and then spinner Asha Sobhana bagged two wickets to restrict them to 135/6 in 20 overs.
With the upcoming ICC Women's T20 World Cup being held in Bangladesh, India's dominating series win comes as a big boost to their preparations.
Bangladesh Women Playing XI: Dilara Akter, Rubya Haider, Sobhana Mostary, Nigar Sultana (c & wk), Shorna Akter, Ritu Moni, Shorifa Khatun, Rabeya Khan, Nahida Akter, Sultana Khatun, Fariha Trisna.
India Women Playing XI: Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana, Dayalan Hemalatha, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Richa Ghosh (wk), S Sajana, Pooja Vastrakar, Deepti Sharma, Asha Sobhana, Titas Sadhu, Radha Yadav.
