‘Great team effort, we bowled really well’ - Harmanpreet Kaur lauds India after victorious start against Bangladesh

India kicked off their white-ball series against Bangladesh in the best way possible as the bowlers did a commendable job of limiting Bangladesh to a low total in the first T20I before winning it by seven wickets to take a 1-0 lead in the series.

Bangladesh came in to bat first after losing the toss and got to a subpar start as Shathi Rani was dismissed by Pooja Vastrakar for just 22 while Shamima Sultana was sent packing for 17 runs. Shorna Akter was the highest run-getter for Bangladesh with 28 runs. However, thanks to the brilliance of the Indian bowling attack, Bangladesh only managed to score 114.

In response, the Indian middle-order put forth a brilliant performance skipper Harmanpreet Kaur scored a brilliant half-century (54 off 35). After the sensational win, Kaur came forward to heap praise on the performance of the Indian bowling attack and also lauded Smriti Mandhana for scoring a brilliant 38 in the run chase.

"It was a great team effort. The bowlers, especially the young girls, bowled really well. I wanted to see how they are going to bowl in the first six overs, I think both of them understood the conditions very early. Apart from them, Deepti too bowled well. She has an experienced bowler and she showed that today," Harmanpreet said in the post-match press conference. 

"[On Mandhana] She is always ready to give her 100% for the team, and she showed her character today as well. When you have batters like Smriti and Shafali, you need not worry too much. We wanted to finish four-five overs early, and I am really happy we were able to do that," she added.

Having kicked off the T20I series in the perfect way, the Indian team would be keen on putting in a similar performance in the forthcoming games Both the teams will meet in the second game of the three-match series at the Shere Bangla Stadium in Dhaka on July 11.