India beat Bangladesh to keep semi-final hopes alive


India's successful day should have been highlighted by a 5-wicket victory with 19 deliveries remaining in pursuit of a 137-run target. However, despite the fact that it did not hinder their relatively easy victory over Bangladesh in their T20 World Cup match in Manchester on Thursday (June 25), they were well off the mark on the field in Manchester. India included Renuka Singh Thakur in their XI, but they gave Shafali Verma the opening position once more. The offie started tidily and while Renuka lost her radar to spear three wides down the leg-side, she made use of the extra deliveries to dismiss Dilara Akter cheaply. On a slow, turn-friendly pitch, India should have taken more Powerplay wickets, but their sloppy fielding once more haunted them. The first of Juraiya Ferdous's three lives occurred when Yastika Bhatia dropped a steepler. Radha Yadav was brought in for her first tournament game, but she dropped a sitter deep in the middle of the wicket from the South Africa match. Shree Charani lost a third chance due to Nandni Sharma's bowling, who dropped two runs in as many deliveries, first at cover and then at short third. After that, the batters hit three boundaries, bringing Bangladesh's score to 40 by the Powerplay's end. Nandni's struggles culminated in two official warnings for running on the danger area, a wide, and a no ball. Despite all of that, as she clung to a return catch to dismiss Ferdous, she had something going her way. Even though Bangladesh weren't very good at scoring runs, they kept turning the strike over, and they liked the short third area because it gave them multiple boundaries throughout the innings. Before captain Nigar Sultana stepped on the gas with three boundaries in the 14th over that were sent down by Nandni, Radha ended Sobhana Mostary's sluggish innings. Radha had Nigar stumped by a clever bowling move, but the spinners tightened the screws as Bangladesh went 22 deliveries without scoring a boundary. Deepti Sharma overstepped a few times, but Bangladesh never managed to accelerate, so she continued to be apathetic. After a 12-ball 10, Sharmin Akhter was kicked out, but Ritu Moni, who took her place, managed just one boundary before Radha got rid of her. After a string of drops early on, Charani reversed her fortunes with a double-wicket over to end the innings, restricting Bangladesh to 136. Shafali Verma kicked off India's chase with a crunch down the ground to propel it forward. She was dropped by wicketkeeper Nigar in the first over, which would be devastating for Bangladesh as Shafali tore into every bowler in sight, effortlessly lofting the ball and making the most of her strong bottom hand. India, who relied on Shafali to end the chase early in the piece, was unmoved by Smriti Mandhana's dismissal. India quickly passed fifty in the fifth over, and Yastika Bhatia started with a boundary as well. However, India achieved their highest Powerplay score in a T20 World Cup match with 63/1 thanks to Shafali's blitz. She made it to fifty off 29 deliveries in style by steering the ball to the extra cover fence, but she was soon stumped in an odd way when she cut the ball in front of the 'keeper before leaving her crease. Yastika survived thanks to another missed chance when Rabeya bowled a sitter off her own bowling. Richa Ghosh was moved up the rankings, probably so he could finish the chase sooner and keep the net run-rate in mind. Before she broke free with a few boundaries and was dismissed LBW shortly after Yastika's death, she was on 1 of 5. That necessitated a slowdown as Bangladesh's spinners attempted to drag the match along, with captain Nigar engaging in lively conversation with her players during the drinks break. Jemimah Rodrigues met skipper Harmanpreet Kaur at the striker's end due to a terrible mixup, but she survived due to a fumble at the bowler's end. Before Rodrigues slogswept Shanjida Akter Meghla over long on for a maximum and backed it up with a crunch through extra cover, Harmanpreet also escaped a run out. She also pounced on Ritu for a few boundaries, and even though she was run out right away, her 15-ball 26 helped Harmanpreet and Deepti finish the job in the 17th over, giving India their third tournament victory with 19 deliveries left.