India vs Bangladesh Women: Focus on Harmanpreet and Co's batting against spin as hosts eye consolation win

There may not be a lot at stake for India going into the third T20I against Bangladesh with a 2-0 unassailable lead in the three-match series, but the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side would be well aware of their shortcomings.

In a low-scoring thriller in Mirpur in the second T20I, Bangladesh were the better side for the majority of the game barring the last few overs. It was India’s experience or Bangladesh’s inexperience so to say plus Deepti Sharma’s bowling that allowed India to successfully defend a 96-run target.

But the fact that India only got 95 batting first when they targeted 150 at the toss was a tragedy.

The pitches at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium have always favoured the spinners and it’s also a fact that the ball was keeping low during the second T20I but nothing can explain India’s failure to rotate the strike or lose wickets with poor shot selection.

Smriti Mandhana had a good start but was clean bowled after failing in a sweep shot. Shafali Verma and Yastika Bhatia were caught trying to play lofted shots after coming down the track. Their shots lacked power and reach.

Jemimah Rodrigues and Harleen Deol played 21 balls each but failed to get into double digit scores. It was disappointing how they were tied down in the middle by leg-spinners Fahima Khatun and Rabeya Khan.

India’s innings included 66 dot balls in 20 overs and that in itself is also a travesty.

The credit for the victory goes to rookie spinner Minnu Mani and Deepti who spun a web around Bangladesh batters and together took five wickets for just 21 runs in eight overs. Shafali took three wickets in the last over and there was also a run out in the final over but Deepti dismissing skipper Nigar Sultana in the penultimate over is where the match was won.

On their return to the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium, India will be hoping for a better batting performance, especially against the leg-spinners. If Harmanpreet wins the toss, she should look to bat first again to give another tough challenge to her batters.

Match timings: The match will be played on 13 July and will start at 1.30 PM IST.

LIVE Streaming: The match will be live streamed on the FanCode app and website. There’s no TV telecast for it in India. The match will also be live streamed on Bangladesh Cricket Board’s YouTube Channel.