Dayalan Hemalatha’s brilliant 41 off only 24 deliveries and India’s disciplined bowling display, spearheaded by the spinners, helped the visitors take a 2-0 lead in the five-match T20I series. The game was played in Sylhet in the pouring rain.
Bangladesh’s top scorer, Murshida Khatun, finished with 46, but after choosing to bat, the hosts could only muster 119. Bangladesh was really off to a great start, reaching forty in the fifth over, but they were hampered by frequent wickets. They were down to 70/5 by the end of the 11th over, with two wickets each taken by Shreyanka Patil and Radha Yadav.
With no overs lost, Bangladesh resumed their innings following a more than 45-minute rain delay. Before Deepti struck for the second time in the innings and finished with 2-14, Khatun guided them past the 100-run threshold in the 16th over. Bangladesh was bowled out after managing just 22 runs in the final five overs for the loss of five wickets. Radha claimed another wicket in her final over, and there were a few runs outs before the end of the innings.
In the opening over of the chase, Hemalatha dismissed Shafali Verma for a duck, but Marufa Akter managed to put India ahead with a steady flow of runs. Before striking a six and a four off Nahida Akter, she opened the innings with a six over midwicket off Sultana Khatun. She then struck fours against Marufa and Fariha Trisna. Before it started to rain again, she struck another four from Marufa with the second ball of the sixth over.
After five overs, the outcome was certain, and when the players left the field, India was well ahead of the DLS calculations. Rain ultimately had the last word as India extended their advantage in the series with a 19-run victory using the DLS method.
Brief scores: India 47/1 in 5.2 overs (Dayalan Hemalatha 41*; Marufa Akter 1-11) defeated Bangladesh 119 in 20 overs (Murshida Khatun 46; Radha Yadav 3-19, Deepti Sharma 2-14, Shreyanka Patil 2-24) by 19 runs (DLS method).
