Mirpur:Indian batters' struggles against spin bowling continued as Bangladesh held their nerve to pull off a four-wicket consolation win in the third and final women's T20 International here on Thursday. India produced another underwhelming batting performance to end up with 102 for nine after opting to bat.
It seemed Bangladesh, who could not chase 96 in the previous game, had taken the self destructing route again but managed to cross the line in 18.1 overs. Opener Shamima Sultana (42 off 46) held the innings together for Bangladesh. India sealed the series 2-1 but their performance left a lot to be desired. The three- match ODI series between the two teams will begin here on July 16.
Batting on spin friendly wickets was the biggest let down as the batters lacked the firepower to put pressure on the slow bowlers. Barring skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, none of the batters could clear the fence in the three games. The performance of rookie off-spinner Minnu Mani was among the few positive stories to have come out for India.
When the new head coach takes charge of the team, he will have plenty of work to do before the side returns to play the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh next year. Earlier, Harmanpreet struck a solid 40 off 41 balls before a batting collapse in the death overs saw India lose their last six wickets for 11 runs. Leggie Rabeya Khan was the standout bowler for Bangladesh with three wickets for 16 runs in four overs. Off-spinner Sultana Khatun was impressive in the powerplay, removing the star opening duo of Shafali Verma (11) and Smriti Mandhana (1).