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A half-century from Shafali Verma and fine spells from Radha Yadav and Shree Charani helped India keep their semifinals dreams alive as they beat Bangladesh by five wickets in their group stage ICC Women's T20 World Cup clash at Manchester on Thursday.
With this win, India is in second place in Group A with three wins and a loss, giving them six points, below Australia, who have won all four matches. India still has one game to play against Australia and is not officially in the semifinals yet, South Africa, who have won two of their three matches, are also strong contenders to make it to the semifinals. Coming to the match, Bangladesh opted to bat first and put up 136/8 in 20 overs. Juairiya Ferdous (33 in 31 balls, with five fours) and Sobhana Mostary (22 in 26 balls, with two fours) put up a half-century stand for the second wicket and skipper Nigar Sultana (32 in 27 balls, with four boundaries) helped Bangladesh to a modest total. Radha Yadav (3/28) and Shree Charani (2/21) were among the lead wicket-takers for India, with Renuka Thakur and Nandni Sharma also getting a wicket each. In the chase, India lost Smriti Mandhana (8) early, but Shafali (53 in 34 balls, with eight fours and a six) and Yastika Bhatia (23 in 18 balls, with three fours) added 45-runs for the second wicket. India experienced a min collapse from 76/2 to 98/4, but Jemimah Rodrigues (26 in 15 balls, with three fours and a six), skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (13*) and Deepti Sharma (5*) guided India to a five-wicket win with 19 balls left. During the match, Indian spinner Charani made history, overcoming Poonam Yadav for most wickets by an Indian in a single ICC Women's T20 World Cup edition. Charani, the newly crowned world number one T20I bowler, achieved the milestone during her side's group stage T20 World Cup match against Bangladesh in Manchester on Thursday. During the match, Charani took 2/21 in four overs, getting wickets of Nahida Akter and Shorna Akter. Now, in four matches in this tournament, she has 12 wickets at an average of 7.08 and an economy rate of 5.31, with her best figures of 4/19. She is the leading wicket-taker in the tournament so far. For India, the old record was in the hands of Poonam, with 10 wickets in five matches at an average of 11.90 and an economy rate of 5.95, with best figures of 4/19 in the 2019/20 edition. New Zealand all-rounder Amelia Kerr has the most wickets in a single Women's T20 WC competition, with 15 scalps in six matches at an average of 7.33 and an economy rate of 4.85, with best figures of 4/26 in the 2024/25 season. (ANI)
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