Felt good on making comeback after last match: Smriti Mandhana after win over Bangladesh in Women's Asia Cup 2022
Oct 08, 2022
Sylhet [Bangladesh], October 8 : After his team's 59-run win over Bangladesh in Women's Asia Cup 2022, Indian captain Smriti Mandhana said that it felt good making a comeback after a loss to Pakistan in their previous match.
Tight bowling by Indian spinners coupled with a half-century from Shafali Verma helped Women in Blue defeat Bangladesh in their Women's Asia Cup 2022 match at Sylhet on Saturday.
"It was disappointing in the last match. It is good to come back after that loss, really proud of the girls. Today it was a total team performance. Shafali batted well, and also Jemimah played well. We could have scored 10 runs more while batting. We had to keep bowling dot balls, and we had to wait for their batters to make mistakes, which they did. Our bowlers bowled really well," said Mandhana in the post-match presentation.
With this win, India has solidified their top spot with four wins in five matches and eight points in total. Bangladesh is at the fourth spot with two wins in four games and four points.
Batting first, India posted 159/5 in 20 overs. Shafali Verma top-scored for India with 55 off 44 balls. She scored a confidence-boosting fifty, her first since March 2021. Smriti Mandhana also scored 47 runs off 38 balls. Rumana Ahmed (3/27) troubled Indian batters but Jemimah Rodrigues kept one end steady with her 35*.
Chasing 160, Bangladesh did have a solid start, with openers Fargana Hoque (30) and Murshida Khatun (21) putting on a 45-run stand for the first wicket. But spells from the spin duo of Shafali Verma (2/10) and Deepti Sharma (2/13) helped India make a strong grip on the match. Captain Nigar Sultana (36) top scored for Bangladesh top-scored for Bangladesh but it could only score 100/7 in 20 overs.
Shafali Verma won 'Man of the Match' for her all-round performance.
Brief Scores: India: 159/5 in 20 overs (Shafali Verma 55, Smriti Mandhana 47, Rumana Ahmed 3/27) won against Bangladesh: 100/7 in 20 overs (Nigar Sultana 36, Fargana Hoque 30, Shafali Verma 2/10) by 59 runs.
