1st T20I: Really happy to finish the chase four-five overs early, says Harmanpreet Kaur

Dhaka, July 9 (IANS) After leading India to an easy seven-wicket victory over Bangladesh in a return to the international circuit after four-and-a-half months, captain Harmanpreet Kaur said she was elated to finish the chase of 115 four-five overs early.

Chasing 115 on a sluggish pitch after the bowlers put in a disciplined show to restrict Bangladesh to a below-par 114/5, India lost Shafali Verma and Jemimah Rodrigues early in the Power-play.

But Harmanpreet, who was dropped on 24, made full use of the reprieve to hit six fours and two sixes in her unbeaten knock of 54 off 35 balls at a strike rate of 154.29, using her feet well while bringing out some well-timed sweeps and slog sweeps. She also shared a decisive 70-run partnership with Smriti Mandhana, who made a 34-ball 38, for India to seal the win with 22 balls to spare.

“She (Smriti) is always ready to give her 100% for the team and she showed her character today as well. When you have batters like Smriti and Shafali, you need not worry too much. We wanted to finish (the chase) four-five overs early and I am really happy we were able to do that,” said Harmanpreet, who got the Player of the Match award, in the post-match presentation ceremony.

The win also means that India have taken a 1-0 lead in the three-game series, with the next game to be held on Tuesday. With the ball, Pooja Vastrakar, Shafali Verma and debutant Minnu Mani chipped in with a wicket each while Deepti Sharma, despite not taking a wicket, was miserly in her spell of 0/14 in four overs.

“It was a great team effort. The bowlers, especially the young girls, bowled really well. I wanted to see how they are going to bowl in the first six overs, I think both of them understood the conditions very early. Apart from them, Deepti too bowled well. She has an experienced bowler and she showed that today,” added Harmanpreet.

Bangladesh skipper Nigar Sultana said her team lost its way in the middle overs, where India’s spinners stifled the run-flow. An unbeaten 28 from youngster Shorna Akter, laced with two sixes, helped them cross the 100-run mark.

“I think we were short by 20-25 runs on this kind of wicket. We started very well but in the middle, we faced a lot of dot balls. We need to work on that,” she concluded.

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