Amanjot Kaur was the highlight among the bowlers as the Indian batting unit failed to chase the target under overcast conditions. (Image: BCCI)
Debutant Amanjot Kaur took full advantage of the overcast conditions as she picked four wickets on her ODI debut.
Debutant Amanjot Kaur had a dream debut in the opening One-Day International against the Bangladesh Women’s side. The 23-year-old right-handed pace bowler picked four wickets to restrict Bangladesh to 152 runs in a match shortened due to rain on Sunday.
The match which was reduced to 44 overs per side, was interrupted by rain for at least an hour. The hosts found the conditions difficult to bat on while Amanjot’s spell coupled with economical spells by Sneh Rana and Deepti Sharma allowed India to gain the upper hand.
Amanjot got her first wicket in the ninth over, bowling a full-length delivery to the Bangladeshi opener, Murshida Khatun who tried to drive but did not time the shot properly and lead to a catch at mid-off.
Sneh Rana got the first breakthrough earlier when the Bangladeshi opener Sharmin Akhter was run out in the eighth over.
Due to the overcast conditions and the wet outfield, pressure mounted since it was not easy to score which led to Akhter being well short of the crease when responding to Murshida’s call to take a quick run.
Due to Amanjot’s pinpoint throw, the keeper, Yastika Bhatia broke the stumps just when the batter made a full-length dive to get back into the crease.
The outcome was so evident that the batter did not even wait for the third umpire’s decision to walk back to the dressing room.
The rain interrupted play on the sixteenth over but on resuming the play, the Bangladeshi batters struggled to score with the scoreline being 63 for 3 wickets in the 21st over.
The veteran batter, Fargana Hoque batted well with the skipper Nigar Sultana to score 27 runs after which she was dismissed by Amajot Kaur.
The skipper was also dismissed by Amanjot as she was trapped in front of the wicket for an LBW.
The Bangladeshi innings was over with six balls remaining due to the constant loss of wickets at regular intervals and the last batter Shorna Akter who was absent hurt.
When India won the toss and elected to bowl first, Amanjot Kaur and Bareddy Anusha were announced to make their ODI debut while top-order batter Priya Punia made her return to the Indian squad since early 2021.