Women’s WC: Bhatia, Rana power India to 110-run win over Bangladesh, keep SF hopes alive
Hamilton(PTI): Yastika Bhatia's gritty half-century and Sneh Rana's all-round performance powered India a dominating 110-run win over Bangladesh and kept them in the hunt for a semifinal spot at the ICC Women's World Cup, here on Tuesday.
Opting to bat, India recovered from a mid-inning collapse to post a modest 229 for seven, riding on a responsible 80-ball 50 by Bhatia and a late flourish from Rana (27) and Pooja Vastrakar (30).
Defending the total, the spinners, led by Rana (4/30), controlled the proceedings as they struck at regular intervals.
India bowled out Bangladesh for 119 in 40.3 overs to register their third win of the tournament. The big win helped India improve their Net-Run-Rate (0.768) further.
The Mithali Raj-led side will take on South Africa in the final league match on Sunday. Before that match, if the second-placed Proteas beat West Indies on Thursday India's semi final chances will get better.
India's decision to bring in senior spinner Poonam Yadav (1/25) in place of pacer Meghna Singh paid dividends. With spinners operating from both the ends on a slow track, Bangladesh found the run-scoring difficult.
India restricting Bangladesh to 69/5 after 25 overs.
Lata Mondal (24) and Salma Khatun (32) provided some resistance with a 40-run partnership which was broken by Jhulan Goswami when she dismissed the latter, while Vastrakar accounted for the former a few overs later.
The pace duo of Goswami (2/19) and Vastrakar (2/26) shared four wickets between them while the spinners accounted for the rest.
Earlier, Smriti Mandhana (30) and Shafali Verma (42) shared 74 runs for the opening wicket but Ritu Moni (3/37) and Nahida Akter (2/42) shared five wickets between them to reduce India from 74 for no loss to 108 for 4 at one stage.
Mandhana ended up hitting straight to Fargana Hoque off Akter, while Moni struck twice in two balls in the next over to leave India at 74 for 3 in 15.4 overs.
While Verma was stumped by Nigar Sultana, skipper Mithali Raj (0) was out for a first-ball duck as India lost three wickets in quick succession.
Vice-captain Harmanpreet Kaur (14) then joined Bhatia as the two tried to resurrect the innings but the duo scored only 34 runs in 70 balls before a direct throw from Hoque caught the former short of her crease.
Bhatia (50 off 80) and Richa Ghosh (26) then added 54 runs to take India past the 150-run score. The duo played at a good pace with Ghosh slamming Lata Mondal (0/20) for successive fours in the 30th over.
However, Akter brought Bangladesh back into the game when she had Ghosh caught behind while she tried to cut a ball that was too close to the body.
After completing her fifty, Bhatia too perished in the next ball while trying for a paddle scoop, only to be caught by at short fine leg.
Vastrakar (30) and Rana (27) then came together at 180 for 6 at the end of 44th over to add 48 off 38 balls, taking India past the 200-run mark. With the two going strong, the last 10 overs yielded 64 runs.
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Man arrested with Rs 2.54-crore heroin in Mumbai
Mumbai (PTI): Police have arrested a man and seized over 500 grams of heroin worth Rs 2.54 crore in the illicit market from him in Mumbai, officials said on Friday.
The police's Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) made the drug seizure in Santacruz in the western suburbs. The operation was conducted by the Kandivali unit of the ANC on Thursday as part of a special crackdown against drug trafficking in the area, they said.
Acting on specific inputs, an ANC team conducted a raid in Santacruz (East) and intercepted a man. During a search, the team recovered 508 grams of high-grade heroin from his possession, an official said.
The seized contraband, a highly addictive, opioid drug derived from morphine, is estimated to be worth Rs 2.54 crore in the international market, he informed.
Following the seizure, a case was registered against the man under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, and he was formally placed under arrest in the early hours of Friday.
The police are currently investigating the source of the drug and trying to identify the intended recipients of the consignment, he said.
