Indian Women Reach Final, One Step Away From Eighth Asia Cup Title

Shafali’s 64 Comeback Knock After Four Lives, Deepti Takes Three Wickets

Dubai: India defeated Bangladesh (7/109) by 40 runs in the Women’s T20 Asia Cup semi-final here on Thursday, booking their place in the final. With the victory, India (6/149) moved to within one step of winning their eighth Asia Cup title. Indian women have previously won four titles in the ODI format and three in the T20 format. The winner of Friday’s semi-final between Pakistan and Sri Lanka will face India in the final on Sunday, starting at 8.00 p.m.

After Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana’s bowlers put up a good performance, their batters were tested by India’s effective six-bowler attack. Bangladesh managed to put up some resistance but ultimately failed to withstand the pressure. Deepti Sharma claimed three wickets, Nandani Sharma took two, while Prema Rawat and Sree Charani picked up one wicket each. Nandani claimed two wickets with the final two balls of the match.

Earlier, defending champions Harmanpreet Kaur and company, after being asked to bat first, posted 149/6 but lost three wickets in the final 10 balls of their innings. Before that, opener Shafali Verma had laid the foundation for India’s total with a 64-run knock off 40 balls, including three sixes and seven fours, despite being given four lives. She was dropped on 6, 11 and 56 runs, while she also survived a run-out chance.

Shafali Verma smashed her 20th T20I half-century for India. In the latter stages of the innings, wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh (21 off 16 balls, two sixes) and all-rounder Deepti Sharma (13 off six balls, one six and one four) also produced useful cameos in small partnerships with captain Harmanpreet Kaur, who remained unbeaten on 24 off 28 balls with two sixes. Their aggressive batting eventually negated the hard work done by Bangladesh’s bowlers. Shafali and Pratika Rawal, who scored 20, added 50 runs for the opening wicket. Spinner Sultana Khatun was Bangladesh’s most successful bowler with two wickets.

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