Bangladesh win low-scoring final T20I; India take series 2-1

Bangladesh spinners outbowled their Indian counterparts and then Shamima Sultana anchored  the chase as the hosts beat India in another low-scoring thriller at the Sher-E-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur on Thursday (July 13). The visitors took the three-match series having won the first two games of the series.

At the start of the day, Harmanpreet Kaur, winning her third toss of the series, opted to bat first again and India found themselves in early trouble losing both the openers with only 20 runs on the board in the fourth over.

From there, Jemimah Rodrigues and Harmanpreet added 45 runs for the third wicket. On a low and slow surface, the duo got the measure of the wicket and used sweeps and cuts to good effect to find some runs. Harmanpreet also danced down the track to hit Fahima Khatun for a huge six over long-on

Eventhough Rodrigues fell in the 12th over to a stumping, it looked like Harmanpreet will guide India to a good score on that track. However, India lost their skipper in the 17th over when she also ventured down the track and was stumped by her opposition number for 40 off 41 balls.

India went from 91 for 3 to 102 for 9 after the Harmanpreet dismissal to finish on a below par score from their 20 overs.

For Bangladesh, Rabeya Khan picked up three wickets in her four overs while Sultana Khatun finished with figures of 2 for 17 from her four overs.

In the chase, Bangladesh also had their share for troubles as they lost two early wickets to Minnu Mani within in the first four overs. However Shamima held fort at one end and added 46 runs for the third wicket with the skipper.

Although Nigar Sultana Joty fell to Devika Vaidya's leg spin in the 13th over, Shamima batted on to take Bangladesh closer. It looked like India would once again make a late dash to win the game when Vaidya dismissed Sultana Khatun for 12 off eight balls in the 17th over and Shamima was run out at the strikers end in the next ball.

However, Nahida Akter and Riu Moni held their nerve and took 13 runs of the debutant Rashi Kanojiya's over to make sure that a repeat of second T20I didn't happen. Eventually Moni hit the winning run off Deepti Sharma in the penultimate over to help Bangladesh secure a famous win. Their only third against India in 16 matches.

Brief Scores: India 102/9 in 20 overs (Harmanpreet Kaur 40, Jemimah Rodrigues 28; Rabeya Khan 3/16, Sultana Khatun 2/17) lost to Bangladesh 103/6 in 18.2 overs (Shamima Sultana 42; Devika Vaidya 2/16, Minnu Mani 2/28) by 4 wickets. POTM: Shamima Sultana POTS: Harmanpreet Kaur