Radha Yadav, Richa Ghosh lead India women’s 21-run win over Bangladesh, 5-0 T20 series | cricket news

Richa Ghosh’s brilliant unbeaten 28 off 17 balls was followed by Radha Yadav (3/24) who demolished Bangladesh’s top order as India registered a 21-run win in the fifth T20I in Sylhet, Bangladesh on Thursday. And won the series 5-0. Chasing a mammoth target of 157, Bangladesh made a promising start but lost to left-arm spinner Yadav. Despite the rearguard act of Ritu Moni (37, 33b, 4×4) and Shorifa Khatoon (28 not out, 21b, 3×4), the hosts finished at 136 for six in 20 overs. All-rounders Mooney and Shorifa put India under pressure by making a strong partnership of 57 runs for the sixth wicket, but ultimately the visiting team won.

The partnership between Mooney and Khatoon was Bangladesh’s highest partnership for the sixth wicket in Women’s T20I, breaking the partnership of 32 between Sanjeeda Islam and Nigar Sultana.

It was leg spinner Asha Shobhana (2/25) who broke this strong partnership by clean bowling Mooney in the 17th over and closed the door for the home team.

Bangladesh were struggling at 52 for five at half-time, but Mooney and Shourifa revived their hopes by taking advantage of every opportunity to hit boundaries and cleverly rotate the strike.

Yadav made his first mark of the game with an athletic catch to dismiss Sobhana Mostari (13) off the bowling of Titas Sadhu. Mostori brought her team back on track while chasing the target by hitting three fours in the first over of Pooja Vastrakar.

After having Dilara Akhtar (4) caught by Vastrakar at midoff to get her first breakthrough on her very first ball, Yadav clean bowled Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana (7) and dismissed Rubaya Haider (20) in front of the stumps. Out for two wickets. The host team was derailed in the ninth over.

Earlier, Ghosh played a short innings of three fours and a six to take India to 156 for five, giving the visiting team the much-needed boost after successive wickets fell.

Captain Harmanpreet Kaur (30), Daylan Hemlata (37) and S Sajna (1) were dismissed in quick succession, helping Bangladesh halt India’s progress as they were aiming for a big score.

Harmanpreet and Hemlata added 60 runs for the third wicket to form a strong base.

India’s 156 runs for five wickets was the highest score by any team in the series, with Smriti Mandhana playing a stormy inning of 33 runs in 25 balls, hitting four fours and a six in the beginning.

Yadav finished as the leading wicket-taker in the series with 10 dismissals in five matches, while Mandhana’s 116 runs in five matches were the most for any batsman.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)