India Women vs Bangladesh Women: In the first semi-final of the Women's Asia Cup, the Indian women's cricket team asserted its dominance and decisively defeated Bangladesh. Team India won the match, played at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, by 40 runs.
With this one-sided victory, the Indian team reached the final for the 10th consecutive time in the tournament's history. In doing so, India has maintained its record of reaching the final in every single edition of the tournament.
Shafali Verma Plays a Match-Winning Innings
Batting first after winning the toss, India posted a total of 149 for 6 in 20 overs, powered by a half-century from opener Shafali Verma.
On a difficult and slow pitch where all other Indian batters struggled to score, Shafali Verma took the Bangladeshi bowling attack to the cleaners. She scored 64 runs off just 40 balls, featuring seven powerful fours and three sixes.
Among the top four Indian batters, the other three had strike rates below 100, whereas Shafali put pressure on the bowlers with a strike rate of 160; notably, she was dropped three times during her innings. Additionally, Pratika Rawal scored 20 runs, and wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh made a useful contribution of 21 runs off 16 balls.
Captain Harmanpreet Kaur also managed to score an unbeaten 24 off 28 balls. Meanwhile, for Bangladesh, Sultana Khatun claimed two wickets, while Rabia Khan, Nahida Akter, and Marufa Akter took one wicket each.
Bangladesh's innings collapses cheaply
Chasing a target of 150 runs, Bangladesh got off to a poor start. The team managed to score only 26 runs and lost one wicket during the powerplay. They were unable to stage a comeback thereafter, and the entire team could only score 109 runs for the loss of seven wickets in their 20 overs.
Deepti Sharma was India's most successful bowler, claiming three wickets for 26 runs in her four overs. Meanwhile, Nandani Sharma took two wickets, while Sri Charani and Prema Rawat claimed one wicket each.
