Harmanpreet impressed with the calmness shown by her team

After dominating the first four T20Is of the five-match series against Bangladesh comprehensively, Indian Women's team, led by Harmanpreet Kaur, were clinical yet again as they put on 156/5 on the board. 

Smriti Mandhana led their batting in the powerplay, scoring 33 off 25 and ensured that India reached 51/1 at the end of the first six overs. Later, Dayalan Hemalatha (37 off 28) continued her rich vein of form, whereas Harmanpreet Kaur (30 off 24) and Richa Ghosh (28 off 17) ensured that India crossed 150 on a typically tricky Sylhet deck.

With the ball, Indian spinners were on their mark from the word go. Radha Yadav, the leading wicket-taker of the series going into this game, continued to trouble the Bangladeshi batters and picked up three more scalps to end the series with 10 wickets at a stellar average of 9.60 and an economy of 5.05. 

Such performances from the majority of the squad led to skipper Kaur attributing it to a team environment. “The calmness all the players showed in the series is something I want to take to the World Cup,” Harmanpreet said in the post-match presentation. 

“In fielding, we made some mistakes, but we know how to move forward. The WPL gave our players a lot of confidence, and those results are helping. This series and conditions will give us a lot of confidence and take our learnings into the World Cup, and hopefully, we'll play our best cricket,” the Indian skipper added. 

Meanwhile, Radha Yadav was adjudged the Player of the Series and credited her work before the series for her memorable comeback on the Indian side. 

“I just wanted to bowl wicket to wicket; that's what I worked on before the series. WPL is helping all the girls, hopefully we'll get some players from Bangladesh as well. I'm trying to bowl in the right areas and working hard on my fitness as well,” Radha said, with a smile appearing on her face while mentioning Bangladeshi participation in the Women’s Premier League (WPL). 

Radha also mentioned that by playing five T20Is on the ground, they’ll be playing their group-stage games in the upcoming T20 World Cup. 

“Nice to play five matches here (before the World Cup) for these conditions and looking forward to the World Cup.”

India are to return to Bangladesh to play their games in the upcoming T20 World Cup, where they are slotted in Group A along with Australia, Pakistan, New Zealand, and Sri Lanka. All Group A games are scheduled at Sylhet, where India just lifted the bilateral series trophy.