Twitter Reactions: Bowlers do the job once again for India Women in a low-scoring thriller against Bangladesh

Neighbours India and Bangladesh played each other in the 6th match of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020. While this was the first game for Bangladesh, India entered into this match after a great win against Australia. Once again, the bowlers have done a fabulous job and took the team home in this low-scoring encounter.

Slow knocks from a couple of Bangladesh batsmen might have hurt their chances. At the same time, the likes of Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma and Veda Krishnamurthy have to be commended for their contributions with the bat.

India was asked to bat first in this match and moreover, they were without Smriti Mandhana who was down with viral fever. In her absence, Shafali Verma and Taniya Bhatia opened the innings. Even though the latter fell early, Shafali took the responsibility for making up for Smriti’s absence.

She played aggressive cricket and kept the opposition bowlers on their toes. The 16-year-old smashed four sixes and two fours in a knock where she raced her way to 39 from 17. In the last over of the powerplay, she tried hitting another big shot after smashing a six and got out in the process.

Yet, her heroics helped India get 54 runs in the powerplay – their highest ever in T20I cricket. But soon after these exploits, they seemed to have lost the plot. A soft dismissal accounted for Harmanpreet Kaur’s wicket while Deepti Sharma was gone for 11 as two batsmen ran towards the same end. Veda Krishnamurthy, with her 11-ball 20, helped the side get to a respectable total of 142/6.

Poonam Yadav picks up a three-wicket haul

A couple of batsmen kept Bangladesh interested throughout the chase. Even though the required run rate kept mounting up as the chase progressed, the side got big over regularly and hit timely boundaries. Murshida Khatun set the tone for them by scoring 30 runs while Nigar Sultana mustered 35 from 26 balls. At number six, Fahima Khatun hit a couple of boundaries and scored 17 runs in 13 balls.

However, the likes of Sanjida Islam, Shamima Sultana and Fargana Hoque took too long to get going. Their knocks built up the pressure on the other batsmen and it ultimately resulted in an 18-run loss. Poonam Yadav starred with the ball once again and picked up a three-wicket haul.

Here is how Twitterati reacted:

One more convincing win for @BCCIWomen Just enjoyed watching the confidence with which they are playing. Keep it up👍 #T20WorldCup

— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) February 24, 2020

Poonam yadav has won it for India. Great contributions from shafali shikha and jemimah #WomensT20WorldCup #marchingslowandsteady

— Surya Kumar Yadav (@surya_14kumar) February 24, 2020

This girl can seriously play ! #shafali

— Nasser Hussain (@nassercricket) February 24, 2020

Get to a TV quick and watch this 16 year old. Shafali Verma 💥💥💥💥

— Lisa Sthalekar (@sthalekar93) February 24, 2020

Defended 132 runs in the first match.
Defended 142 runs in the second match.

Shafali Verma and bowlers have been the match winners for #TeamIndia in this #T20WorldCup. India Women move to the top of the table.

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) February 24, 2020

Timely reminder that Shafali Verma turned 16 last month.
She’s an incredibly unique talent who will change the women’s game.

— Tom O'Neil (@thomasjameoneil) February 24, 2020

India women seems to be clueless in middle overs, not able to score runs and keep losing wickets at regular intervals. After Shafali Verma there's actually no one uplift the scorecard, whole innings just slows down after her dismissal.

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) February 24, 2020

16-year-old Shafali Verma gives a flying start to India Women yet again. #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/kDfbqnTea0

— CricTracker (@Cricketracker) February 24, 2020

MVP for #TeamIndia in this #T20WorldCup:

Shafali Verma – 39(17) & 29(15)
Poonam Yadav: 3/18 & 4/19

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) February 24, 2020

Trump should have taken Shafali Verma's name

— absy (@absycric) February 24, 2020

#INDvBAN Our Women in blue won the second match in row as they beat BAN by 18 runs as Poonam Yadav spins a web and Shikha Pandey closes things off. It was a familiar script for India to notch up their second straight win of the tournament.👏👏👏

— Totlani Krishan (@kktotlani) February 24, 2020

New favourite bowler to watch: Poonam Yadav. #T20WorldCup

— Liam Cromar (@LiamCromar) February 24, 2020

Poonam Yadav is too good
and player of the match Shafali Verma 💙

— I𝓪𝓂va𝓂͢͢͢si🐯 (@4evercricket) February 24, 2020

Congrats Team India 🇮🇳 for back to back wins in #T20WorldCup ✌️ superb spell by Shikha Pandey and Poonam Yadav once again and well supported by Arundhati Reddy.#INDvBAN #T20WorldCup

— Awarapan 🇮🇳 (@KingSlayer_05) February 24, 2020

Poonam Yadav again picks up 3 wickets n helps #TeamIndia to win against Bangladesh by 18 runs
Congratulations #WomenInBlue #INDvBAN #T20WorldCup

— 𝓢𝓱𝔀𝓮𝓽𝓱𝓪 (@shwetha0811) February 24, 2020