Hamilton (New Zealand): A disciplined bowling attack by Indian bowlers on Tuesday in addition to the regular fall of Bangladesh's wickets toppled the latter as India won the must-win match by a massive 110 runs here at Seddon Park.The Women in Blue made a collective effort with both fast bowlers and spinners coming into play and using variations after India posted a below-par 229 for 7.
Bowlers, Sneh Rana, the most successful amongst the Indian bowling line-up, took four while Pooja Vastrakar and Jhulan Goswami claimed two Bangladeshi wickets each.From Bangladesh's side, Salma Khatun was the top-scorer of their side with 32 runs.
With the win, India cemented their spot in the top-4, moving to third in the table. They have six points from as many outings. The Mithali Raj-led side now needs to win its last game against South Africa to qualify for the semifinals.Earlier opting to bat, India recovered from a mid-inning collapse to post a modest 229 for seven, riding on a responsible 80-ball 50 by Bhatia and a late flourish from Rana (27) and Pooja Vastrakar (30).
Defending the total, the spinners, led by Rana (4/30), controlled the proceedings as they struck at regular intervals.India bowled out Bangladesh for 119 in 40.3 overs to register their third win of the tournament. The big win helped India improve their Net-Run-Rate (0.768) further.
The Mithali Raj-led side will take on South Africa in the final league match on Sunday. Before that match, if the second-placed Proteas beat West Indies on Thursday India's semifinal chances will get better.India's decision to bring in senior spinner Poonam Yadav (1/25) in place of pacer Meghna Singh paid dividends. With spinners operating from both the ends on a slow track, Bangladesh found the run-scoring difficult.
India restricting Bangladesh to 69/5 after 25 overs: Lata Mondal (24) and Salma Khatun (32) provided some resistance with a 40-run partnership which was broken by Jhulan Goswami when she dismissed the latter, while Vastrakar accounted for the former a few overs later.
The pace duo of Goswami (2/19) and Vastrakar (2/26) shared four wickets between them while the spinners accounted for the rest.Earlier, Smriti Mandhana (30) and Shafali Verma (42) shared 74 runs for the opening wicket but Ritu Moni (3/37) and Nahida Akter (2/42) shared five wickets between them to reduce India from 74 for no loss to 108 for 4 at one stage.
Mandhana ended up hitting straight to Fargana Hoque off Akter, while Moni struck twice in two balls in the next over to leave India at 74 for 3 in 15.4 overs.While Verma was stumped by Nigar Sultana, skipper Mithali Raj (0) was out for a first-ball duck as India lost three wickets in quick succession.
Vice-captain Harmanpreet Kaur (14) then joined Bhatia as the two tried to resurrect the innings but the duo scored only 34 runs in 70 balls before a direct throw from Hoque caught the former short of her crease.Bhatia (50 off 80) and Richa Ghosh (26) then added 54 runs to take India past the 150-run score.
The duo played at a good pace with Ghosh slamming Lata Mondal (0/20) for successive fours in the 30th over.However, Akter brought Bangladesh back into the game when she had Ghosh caught behind while she tried to cut a ball that was too close to the body.
After completing her fifty, Bhatia too perished in the next ball while trying for a paddle scoop, only to be caught by at short fine leg.Vastrakar (30) and Rana (27) then came together at 180 for 6 at the end of 44th over to add 48 off 38 balls, taking India past the 200-run mark. With the two going strong, the last 10 overs yielded 64 runs.
Brief Scores: India-229 for 7 in 50 overs (Yastika Bhatia 50, Shafali Verma 42; Nahida Akter 2/42, Ritu Moni 3/37).
Bangladesh: 119 all out in 40.3 overs (Salma Khatun 32, Lata Monday 24; Sneh Rana 4/30).
With PTI
