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.
India collapsed from 191 for five in the 42nd over to 217 for nine in the 48th, but the last-wicket pair of Rodrigues and Meghna took the team close to the finish line.
But with one run needed to win off the last four balls, Marufa had Meghna caught behind as half centuries by Mandhana and Deol went in vain.
Rabeya Akhtar started the collapse as she got Amanjot in the final ball of the 47th over. Nahida then bowled a crucial over, getting rid of Sneh Rana and Devika Vaidya.
India had suffered their first ODI defeat against Bangladesh in the opening match but came back strongly to beat the hosts by 108 runs in the second match.
Opting to bat first, Bangladesh managed to play a calculated and risk-free innings for major part with Fargana producing a fine innings.
Sharmin Akhter had hit 130 not out for Bangladesh in a World Cup qualifier match against the USA in 2021 but that did not enter the record books as that tournament in Zimbabwe featured a team that did not have ODI status.
Saturday’s 225 for 4 was also the Bangladesh women team’s second-highest ODI total, after the 234 for 7 against Pakistan in 2022.
For India, Rana (2/45) and Vaidya (1/42) were among wickets.
The Indian bowlers were left frustrated by the Bangladesh openers Shamima and Fargana for more than half of their innings. The duo denied the Indians any success till the 27th over when Shamima got out for a well-made 52 off 78 balls.
The 35-year-old Shamima, who was playing her first match of the series, studded her innings with five boundaries and got dismissed off a delivery from Rana.
Fargana continued the good work as she consolidated the Bangladesh innings with captain Nigar Sultana (24). The visiting bowlers simply could not get the wickets needed though they did not concede too many runs.
Fargana produced a solid display, holding the Bangladesh innings together. That gave captain Sultana some room to play more freely as Bangladesh reached 163 for 1 in 40 overs.
Just as Bangladesh needed to accelerate, Rana struck for the second time, removing Sultana in the 41st over to reduce the home side to 164 for 2.
Bangladesh added 62 runs in the last 10 overs for the loss of three wickets.
With inputs from PTI
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