The match ended in a tie as chasing 225, India were bowled out on the same score. Eventually, the three-match ODI series finished 1-1.

Notably, Harmanpreet was given out LBW when she was batting on 14 in India’s run chase off Nahida Akter. However, the decision did not go down well with Harmanpreet as she broke the stumps with her bat. She was also seen arguing with the umpire.

Later during the post-match presentation, Harmanpreet slammed the Bangladeshi umpires for the alleged wrong decisions.

“I think there is a lot of learning for us from the game. Even apart from the cricket, the kind of umpiring that was happening, we were very surprised. The next time we come to Bangladesh we will make sure we have to deal with this type of umpiring and prepare ourselves accordingly,” said Harmanpreet.

However, Mandhana defended her captain Harmanpreet’s on-field reaction.

“It was part and parcel of the game and Harmanpreet’s backlash was made in the heat of the moment,” said Mandhana.

“When you play for India, you want to win the match, and it happens in the heat of the moment. I think she was not really happy with the decision given and she felt she wasn’t out. That is why that reaction came about. It is just the heat of the moment and nothing much. What happened in the middle is a part and parcel of the game. We have seen these incidents so much in the past as well. When you really want that ‘W’ on the board for India, these things happen,” she added.

Chasing 115 on a sluggish pitch after Bangladesh were restricted to a below-par 114/5, India lost Shafali Verma and Jemimah Rodrigues early in the power-play. But Harmanpreet, who was dropped on 24, made full use of the reprieve to hit six fours and two sixes in her unbeaten knock of 54 at a strike rate of 154.29.

She also shared a decisive 70-run partnership with Smriti Mandhana, who made a 34-ball 38, for India to seal the win with 22 balls to spare. The win also means that India have taken 1-0 lead in the three-game series, with the next game to be held on Tuesday.

India suffered an early jolt when young pacer Marufa Akhter found some swing to trap Shafali Verma lbw for a two-ball duck in the opening over. After Smriti got off the mark with a backfoot cut for four, Jemimah was elegant in placing her on-drive and square cut for a brace of fours off Marufa.

But in an attempt to cut off Sultana Khatun in the fourth over, Jemimah tried to cut off the delivery, but the ball stayed low and lack of pace on it took the inside edge to crash into the stumps.

Smriti and Harmanpreet were in good nick, by getting boundaries regularly. While Smriti was great in her cuts, lofts and pulls, Harmanpreet varied between using her feet to drive and loft against spinners while also employing the sweep and pull to good effect.

After Sultana made a mess of an attempt to have Harmanpreet caught out on 24, the Indian skipper hoicked and swept Rabeya Khan for six and four respectively.

Though Smriti was stumped from behind off Sultana by a sharp turning delivery, Harmanpreet got her 11th T20I fifty with a massive slog-sweep for six off Salma Khatun and finished off the chase in style with a swipe through the leg-side for four.

Brief scores:

Bangladesh 114/5 in 20 overs (Shorna Akter 28 not out, Sobhana Mostary 23; Pooja Vastrakar 1-16, Shafali Verma 1-18) lost to India 118/3 in 16.2 overs (Harmanpreet Kaur 54 not out, Smriti Mandhana 38; Sultana Khatun 2-25, Marufa Akter 1-18) by seven wickets