Women's T20 World Cup: Sloppy India move closer to semi finals with 5-wicket rout of Bangladesh

India bounced back to winning ways in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026, with a 5-wicket victory against Bangladesh in Match 23 on Thursday, June 25 at Old Trafford, Manchester. After opting to bat first, Bangladesh were restricted to 136/8 in their allotted 20 overs. 

India had another poor day in the field, as they dropped four catches, within a space of 11 deliveries inside the powerplay. Apart from that, there were several fielding lapses, as well as three no-balls were delivered, which contributed to the overall chaos.

Amid the commotion, Radha Yadav redeemed herself after dropping another catch and picked up a three-wicket haul, while Shree Charani (2/21) also chipped in with two wickets, which helped her become the highest wicket taker (12) for India in a single edition of the T20 World Cup.

In reply, India chased down the target in 16.5 overs with Shafali Verma playing a whirlwind innings. However, there were some hiccups in the chase, following her dismissal, with the middle order once again collapsing. Crucial contributions from Jemimah Rodrigues (26 off 15), Yastika Bhatia (23 off 18) and Harmanpreet Kaur (13* off 14) eventually took India over the line as they completed their second-highest chase in Women's T20 World Cup.

Meanwhile, following their win, India maintained second position in the Group A points table with six points from four matches, while Bangladesh maintained fourth position with four points.

Top run-scorer of the Match

Top wicket-taker of the Match

Player of the Match

Shafali Verma was adjudged Player of the Match for her stellar innings of 53 (34), studded with eight fours and a six.

Turning Point

Shafali was dropped on 4 by Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana, which became a huge turning point of the match.

What did the captains say:

Winning Captain, Harmanpreet Kaur (India women):

On completing the first job and securing the win against Bangladesh] I think it’s a good win. We were looking for this and good that we thought we’ll finish a bit early, but unfortunately, you know, but still I think two, three overs were there when we finished the game. So I think that’s a plus point for us. [On what still needs improvement before the next game] I think a lot of things, but I think fielding is something on which we have been working very hard, but unfortunately today again, we were not very great with the catches and hopefully, you know, next game is very important and I think that is the day to show our best cricket. [On handling repeated dropped catches by otherwise strong fielders] Well, that’s true. They are our best fielders, but sometimes situations are like that. You can’t really control them, but we only talked about, let’s keep working hard, keep spending a lot of time on the field, keep catching those balls so that when we go into the field, we are in a good position. But unfortunately today again, we again fumbled so many balls, but I think the next match is a very important match and I’m sure our best will come on that day.

Losing Captain, Nigar Sultana (Bangladesh women):

[On the crucial phases Bangladesh would have liked to improve after staying in the fight against India] See, we have created a lot of chances in the middle, especially in the bowling, so we couldn’t grab them. So they take this game away from us. And I think the way we actually bowled in the last game, we couldn’t bowl. [On whether 136 was a satisfactory total at the halfway stage] We were short of 15 to 20 runs. And we had a good start in the powerplay, but we couldn’t carry on in the middle and the last few overs of the innings. I think what we should accelerate on that time, so couldn’t capitalize ourselves. [On the message to the team when India still needed runs and Bangladesh remained in the contest] We are talking about like anything can happen anytime. So just be positive and try to bowl in the right areas and try to be so calm. If it is the opportunity to come, you have to grab it. So somehow I think we lost the momentum and they played really well. [On Bangladesh’s progress during their first international tour of England] See, it’s not about success every time. I think the way this whole unit actually growing day by day and a lot of young players come up each and every game individually. So it is a kind of a success for me, but still we are here to win. And we had a massive opportunity to do well here, but I think I’m really proud of the way we actually played. [On what it would mean to play at Lord’s in the final game] I guess this is a good opportunity for us because being there is a good for the team. We really wanted to create some good memories there and we are looking for the last game.