ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2022: India beat Bangladesh to keep semi-finals hopes alive
For the Indian women’s cricket team, Yastika Bhatia scored a well-made fifty while Sneh Rana took four wickets to star with the ball.
The Indian women’s cricket team kept its semi-final pursuit on track with a 110-run victory over Bangladesh at the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022 in Hamilton, New Zealand on Tuesday.
Opting to bat first on a turning track at Seddon Park, Indian batters put up a score of 229/7 on board in 50 overs. Yastika Bhatia scored 50 and was eventually named Player of the Match.
The bowlers then skittled out Bangladesh for 119 in 40.3 overs. Sneh Rana, with 4/30 in 10 overs, was the pick of the bowlers for India.
With this win, India leapfrogged West Indies in third place on the Women’s Cricket World Cup points table.
While both have three wins from six games, India have a net run rate of +0.768, which is second-best in the tournament. West Indies with -0.885, have the worst net run rate amongst the eight teams.
Both India and West Indies will play their final group match against an in-form and second-placed South Africa this week.
Defending champions England are also in the race and are currently fifth with two games to play and a net run rate of +0.327. Australia are leading the points table and have already qualified for the semi-finals.
In the match against Bangladesh, India’s move to stick with attacking opener Shafali Verma paid dividends as the 18-year-old batter got India off to a good start with a run-a-ball 42. Smriti Mandhana (30 runs) played a patient innings at the other end for a 74-run stand.
India, however, lost their wickets in a cluster after Smriti Mandhana departed in the 15th over. Shafali Verma was stumped and captain Mithali Raj got out for a first-ball duck in the next over as India slumped from 74-0 to 74-3 in a space of five balls.
When Harmanpreet Kaur (14) was run out a little later, India’s scoreboard read 108/4.
Wicket-keeper batter Richa Ghosh (26) continued with Yastika Bhatia (50) to rebuild the innings as India reached 150-4 in the 36th over. The duo, however, departed soon after and India were in a precarious position at 176/6 in 44th over.
Pooja Vastrakar’s unbeaten 30 in 33 balls and Sneh Rana with 23-ball 27, however, helped India reach a par score of 229.
In reply, Bangladesh batters were dominated by India as captain Mithali Raj got results for mixing her spinners and fast bowlers. Bangladesh were 19/2 at the end of the mandatory powerplay and collapsed to 35/5 in just the 18th over.
Salma Khatun with a well-paced 32 off 35 balls kept Bangladesh in the chase but was dismissed by Jhulan Goswami in the 28th over. Lata Mondal (24), the only other Bangladeshi player to cross the 20-run mark, was sent back by medium pacer Pooja Vastrakar.
With the Bangladeshi tail exposed, the Indian bowlers ran through the remaining batters to complete a comprehensive win.
India will play their last Women’s Cricket World Cup group stage game against South Africa on Sunday.
India vs Bangladesh, Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022, brief scores: India 229/7 (Yastika Bhatia 50, Shafali Verma 42; Ritu Moni 3/37) beat Bangladesh 119/10 (Salma Khatun 32, Sneh Rana 4/30) by 110 runs.