Women's World T20 | Veda Krishnamurthy's innings was the turning point, attests Harmanpreet Kaur

India took a step closer to the 2020 T20 World Cup semi-final qualification as they trounced Bangladesh by 18 runs in their Group A match on Monday. The Women in Blue posted a competitive total of 142 courtesy Shafali Verma's blistering start, a solid Jemimah Rodrigues hand and a much-needed Veda Krishnamurthy cameo towards the end. The bowlers then stepped up in the second half to add two more points to their tally. The skipper was impressed by Shafali's strokeplay and admitted Veda Krishnamurthy's innings to be the game-changer.

“The way Shafali and Richa played today, they showed how capable they are for the team. Veda's innings was turning point. We needed boundaries at that point and she did a great job. Look at one game at a time. Looking forward to do well in the future also. Hopefully Mandhana will be ready for New Zealand. She's feeling better now,” said Harmanpreet Kaur in the post-match presentation, as quoted by Cricbuzz.

Earlier, 16-year-old opener Shafali Verma gave India a rollicking start, smashing a 17-ball 39 which contained two fours and four humongous sixes. The youngster's innings had class and brute force and she showed the world what she is capable of, on any given day. The teen sensation revealed that she was determined to take more responsibility in the absence of incumbent opener Smriti Mandhana.

“Since Mandhana wasn't around, I wanted to take the responsibility to stay around and give India a good start. I've been practising hitting the ball hard and I would like to bring the team more success in the future. I'd like to continue doing this, help India win matches and ultimately win us the World Cup,” said Shefali Verma.