INDW vs BANW: India's struggles with the bat on rank turners continue, star players bite the dust

India produced another underwhelming batting performance to end up with 102 for nine in the third and final T20 International against Bangladesh here on Thursday. Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur struck a solid 40 off 41 balls before a batting collapse in the death overs saw India lost their last six wickets for 11 runs.

Leggie Rabeya Khan was the standout bowler for Bangladesh with three wickets for 16 runs in four overs. Off-spinner Sultana Khatun was impressive in the powerplay, removing the star opening duo of Shafali Verma (11) and Smriti Mandhana (1). The surface has proved "tricky" throughout the low-scoring series and considering that, Harmanpreet opted to bat first.

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India vs Bangladesh: Openers fail to deliver

(Smriti Mandhana walks after being dismissed / Image: BCB)

Shafali and Mandhana once again failed to provide a good start to leave India at 27 for two in six overs. Mandhana got herself into an awkward position while trying to work one towards the leg side and ended up getting the leading edge with Bangladesh captain and keeper Nigar Sultana doing the rest. Shafali was caught at long on, failing to clear the fence. Jemimah Rodrigues (28 off 26) and Harmanpreet stitched a 45-run stand to take the innings forward before the former was stumped off leg-spinner Shorna Akter. Unlike the previous game, Jemimah showed positive intent in her innings and made good use of her feet against the spinners.

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Lack of ammunition in the Indian batting lineup

The lack of six-hitters in the squad was exposed again as Harmanpreet was the only one to have cleared the ropes. In fact, the Indian captain is the only one to have hit sixes for the visitors in the entire series. Once Harmanpreet was stumped in the 17th over, wickets fell in a heap as Indian batters failed to get the required boundaries.