India sent a message to their Group B rivals as they posted their highest T20 score to open their ICC Women’s World Twenty20 account with a comfortable 72-run victory over Bangladesh in Bangalore.
England kick-off their campaign against the Tigers on Thursday but Bangladesh were no match for India as they fell well short after the hosts posted a record score of 163 for five.
Openers Mithali Raj and Vellaswamy Vanitha hit 42 and 38 respectively to set a solid benchmark after being put into bat before they lost two wickets in successive overs as Bangladesh’s spinners briefly halted India’s momentum.
Despite losing Smriti Mandhana for a duck, Veda Krishnamurthy and Harmanpreet Kaur would blast India to their highest total with both hitting a pair of sixes to set Bangladesh 164 to win.
India’s bowling attack restricted Bangladesh to a meander 91 for five off their 20 overs with Poonam Yadav and Anuja Patil both collecting two wickets.
Group A’s opening match will see two-time runners-up New Zealand face South Africa, who look to bounce back from their seven-wicket defeat at the hands of England yesterday.
Source: ECB