Women's World Cup: India in a strong position for semi-finals after defeating Bangladesh

Yastika Bhatia's gritty 50 and Sneh Rana's all-rounding effort put India into dominance.

India didn't have a single loose moment and was into the game from the first hour. They had a tremendous time with bat and even better with ball and fielding.

Challenging total after the mid-inning collapse of India

After so many enthralling matches in the Women's World Cup, today's both matches brought comfortable non-close games. Yastika Bhatia's gritty 50 and Sneh Rana's all-rounding effort put India into dominance.

Opting to bat, India got off to a steady start from Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma in the powerplay.

They made 30 and 42 runs respectively to inaugurate the stable innings for India. Yatika Bhatia's courageous half-century came following the dismissals off 80 balls after skipper Mithali Raj got out for a duck.

Pooja Vastrakar and Sneh Rana cushioned the mid-inning collapse of India after a comeback by Bangladesh bowlers, as they both went to play big with the strike rate of 90-plus towards the end to help India place a challenging target of 230 for Bangladesh.

Yastika Bhatia (player of the match for her 50 (80)) said, "Very pleased with the performance although I would have liked to contribute with a few more runs. Nevertheless, I'm very happy with the result. In domestic cricket, I prepared to play at No. 3.

"But in my mind, it was clear that my focus was to contribute to the team. So, the preparation and net sessions were focused on that (objective).

"Sometimes, wickets are not good and can fall, so strike rotation is in my mind. I have changed my diet, but I eat everything as carbs are needed during the game. Means a lot to win the award as it's my first one."

Gayakwad-Rana stood out: Squeezing runs to chipping wickets

Bangladesh began their innings to bat by losing half of their team in the first 20 overs with hardly any score fetched on-field. Murshida Khatun tried to stay for longer on the crease but couldn't capitalise it well. The damage done to the batting line-up was immense to be coped up by lower-order batters.

Thus, the game appeared to be done very early in the chase. Apart from their failure with bat, India played with different intensity with ball and fielding, not dropping even a single chance to strike early wickets.

Spinners and seamers both complemented well on-crease to create pressure on the batter. Rajeshwari Gayakwad was exceptional with the ball, as she bowled 10 overs at an economy of 1.50. For a spell of 60 balls, she bowled 49 dot balls.

Sneh Rana too, stood out with her four-wicket haul in her 10 over spell.

A competitive score, defended well by India as 32 were the highest runs scored by Salma Khatun at the seventh wicket. She delayed the inevitable as Sneh Rana, and co cleared the innings well in 40.3 overs.

Another must-win match for India

India needed a win, and if possible, a big one and they have achieved that goal today. The big win helped India improve their Net-Run-Rate (0.768) further as they sit third in the Points table.

India has their next must-win match on 27th March 2022 against South Africa, who lost their first match today from Australia.