Spinners, Harmanpreet seal comfortable win for India in rain-hit match
Written by I Dig SportsIndia 122 for 6 (Harmanpreet 39, Ghosh 24, Marufa 2-24, Rabeya 2-28) beat Bangladesh 68 for 7 (Dilhara 21, Deepti 2-13, Asha 2-18) by 56 runs via DLS method
Bangladesh made three changes from the XI that played the third game, but were never in the chase on a sluggish surface. After Deepti handed the first breakthrough for India with the wicket of Murshida Khatun in the fourth over, she went on to dismiss Dilhara Akter (21 off 25). Rubya Haider (13 off 17) was also run out after a mix-up with captain Nigar Sultana in the eighth over.
Asha's maiden wicket was the prized scalp of Sultana, who couldn't read a googly on the stumps and ended up being trapped lbw. The legspinner added one more wicket when she dismissed Shorna Akter, having the batter mistime a slog-sweep only to be caught by Richa Ghosh off a leading edge. Asha finished her quota of three overs with figures of 2 for 18.
Bangladesh's batting collapse continued to haunt them in the series as they slid from 38 for 1 to 47 for 6 to lose the plot and the game.
The duo put on 44 runs off just 28 balls for the fourth wicket. Harmanpreet picked up pace after Mandhana's dismissal as she went from 10 off 8 to 39 off 26 balls, hitting five fours. Ghosh played a 15-ball 24 and hit three fours and a six as India accumulated 52 runs in the last five overs. Though several shots were coming off edges, India scored quickly to put up a solid target in 14 overs.
India will be eying a series sweep when they take on the field for the final game on May 9.