Skipper Salma Khatun’s all-round performance went in vain as the Bangladesh national women’s team began their campaign in India with a 49-run defeat in the opening game of the three-match Twenty20 international series at the Reliance Stadium in Vadodara on Tuesday.
Salma took 3-12 as India were restricted to 143-3 in 20 overs and later made an unbeaten 49 though it proved to be insufficient against a strong Indian outfit as the visitors were restricted to 97-7 to go 1-0 up in the series.
The Indian openers seemed to relish the opportunity of facing a bowling attack lacking in any sort of venom as Poonam Raut and Thirush Kamini put up an impressive opening wicket stand of 130 that virtually took the game away from the visitors.
Right- handed Poonam struck 75 from 56 balls with the help of 10 boundaries to showcase her attacking skills which virtually overshadowed left-handed Kamini’s 56 off 57 balls before Salma broke the stand by removing Kamini.
Poonam paid the price for her over-ambition as Salma invited her to come down the wicket in order to accelerate the scoring rate but missed the line of the delivery completely to be stumped by Nuzhat Tasnia.
Bangladesh were struggling at 17-2 in reply before Salma, alongside opener Shahanaz Parvin (13) tried to steady the ship by adding 40 runs for the third wicket but a misunderstanding between the pair enabled the hosts to make an inroad as Shahanaz departed after being stranded short of the crease.
The Indian bowlers began to assert their authority over their counterparts as the Bangladeshi eves lost wickets at regular intervals without providing any support to their captain who looked helpless at the other end despite appearing to time the ball sweetly which allowed her to hit six boundaries in her undefeated 43-ball stay.
The Indian bowlers evenly shared the wickets between them as Bangladesh’s chase never really took off and hardly looked threatening and eventually the visitors fell short by 49 runs.
The second and penultimate T20 clash will take place in the same venue tomorrow.
-With New Age input
