India’s batting woes reared its head once again as Bangladesh produced a valiant fightback to hold them to a thrilling tie in the third and final women’s ODI in Dhaka on Saturday.
The Bangladeshis held their nerve during the tense stages of the match at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Mirpur, Dhaka, and managed to build pressure on the Indians with their superb fielding and equally effective bowling, resulting in the Indian batting unit once again losing wickets in a heap.
This after Fargana Hoque brought up the first-ever ODI hundred by a Bangladesh batter in women’s cricket to propel the hosts to 225/4 — their second-highest total in the format. Hoque, who scored a 160-ball 107, was well-supported by Shamima Sultana (52), with the pair stitching a 93-run opening partnership.
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The Women in Blue got off to a shaky start in the 226-run chase, losing Shafali Verma (4) and Yastika Bhatia (5) within five overs but were brought back on track by by Smriti Mandhana and Harleen Deol, who would go on score 59 and 77 respectively and stitch a 107-run third-wicket stand.
India were cruising at 139/2 at one stage when Fahima Khatun managed to break the solid partnership by having Mandhana caught by Sobhana Mostary at point. Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur would depart not long after, departing for 14 and becoming the first of Nahida Akter’s three wickets of the day.
The visitors though, were still very much in control on 173/4 when rain temporarily halted play, and needed one solid partnership to pull off a series-clinching victory.
As had been the case both in the T20Is and in the ODIs, India ended up losing wickets in a cluster to allow their opponents to claw their way back into the game. From 191/4, they would end up losing their last six wickets for just 34 runs, with Jemimah Rodrigues left stranded on 33 not out as a procession ensued at the other end.
Left-arm spinner Nahida (3/37) and seamer Marufa Akter (2/55) led the way for the Bangladeshis, the latter grabbing the winning wicket by getting Meghna Singh caught-behind for 6.
The hosts were also electric on the field, especially after the rain break with the run-outs of Deol and Deepti Sharma (1) in the same (42nd) over turning the game on its head and instilling belief in the Bangladeshi camp of pulling off an unlikely victory.
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