India Women batting stumbles again as Bangladesh fight back to secure incredible tie in 3rd ODI

India Women’s batting let them down again as they went from 160/3 to 225 all-out and were forced to be content with a tie in the third ODI against Bangladesh in Mirpur on Saturday.

Chasing a target of 226, the Women in Blue seemed to be in control of proceedings courtesy of half-centuries from Harleen Deol (77 off 108) and Smriti Mandhana (59 off 85). However, they lost their way and were bowled out in 49.3 overs.

The game completely turned around after Harleen was run-out following a superb piece of fielding from Fahima Khatun. To make matters worse, Deepti Sharma (1) was also run-out in the same over by a direct hit from Sobhana Mostary as Jemimah Rodrigues called her for a quick single.

Amanjot Kaur was then trapped lbw by Rabeya Khan for 10, leaving India to get 10 runs off the last three overs with three wickets in hand. Nahida Akter dismissed Sneh Rana (0) and Devika Vaidya (0) in the 48th over to give Bangladesh the advantage. Both batters offered return catches to Nahida.

Marufa Akter then ensured a tie for Bangladesh as Meghna Singh (6) edged an attempted cut to the keeper. At the other end, Rodrigues was left stranded on 33 off 45 balls. There was no Super Over because the “scheduled time” was over. The series thus ended with a 1-1 scoreline.

Earlier, India lost Shafali Verma for 4 and Yastika Bhatia for 5 in the chase. However, a third-wicket stand of 107 between Mandhana and Harleen put them on course of victory. The fine stand ended when Mandhana was caught off Fahima Khatun, miscuing a cut.

There was controversy over Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur’s dismissal for 14 as she did not agree with the lbw decision after missing a sweep against Nahida Akter. She hit the stumps with the bat and also indicated to the umpire that there was bat involved. And once Harleen was back in the hut, India completely lost their way.

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Fargana Hoque ton lifts Bangladesh to 225/4

Earlier, Fargana Hoque scored an excellent 107 off 160 balls as Bangladesh put up 225/4 after winning the toss and batting first in Mirpur. Hoque struck seven fours in her 200-minute stay and added 93 for the opening wicket with Shamima Sultana, who contributed 52 off 78 balls.

Skipper Nigar Sultana (24 off 36) and Mostary (23* off 22) also chipped in with handy contributions to lift the hosts.

India looked good to chase down the total. However, their batting once again fell short of expectations, although Harmanpreet made her displeasure over the standard of umpiring very clear at the post-match presentation.