Women's T20 World Cup: India defeat Bangladesh by 18 runs

India continued their winning momentum in the International Cricket Council (ICC) Women's T20 World Cup after defeating Bangladesh by 18 runs at WACA Ground in East Perth on Monday (February 24).

Batting first, India scored 142 for the loss of six wickets with Shafali Verma top-scoring with 36 runs. In response, Bangladesh managed to score 124 runs in their allotted quota of 20 overs for the loss of eight wickets.

Spinner Poonam Yadav was the star with the ball as she claimed three wickets. Earlier, Shafali Verma, 16, gave a brilliant start to India hitting a 17-ball 39 with two fours and four sixes. Jemimah Rodrigues added 34 runs to help India put a challenging total of 142 runs. Down the order, Veda Krishnamurthy scored a quickfire 20 off 11 balls studded with four boundaries.

For Bangladesh, Murshida Khatun scored 30 runs off 26 balls after her opening partner Shamima Sultana was dismissed by Shikha Pandey in the second over.

After Khatun's dismissal by Arundhati Reddy, Nigar Sultana (35) tried to keep Bangladesh alive in the match but they failed to score against the quality spin bowling of Poonam Yadav. For India, Arundhati Reddy and Pandey claimed took two wickets each, while Rajeshwari Gayakwad grabbed one wicket.