Dubai: India reached of the final of Women's Asia Cup as they thrahsed Bangladesh by 40 runs in the first semifinal at the Dubai International Stadium here on Thursday.
After scoring 149 runs on the board, Indian women restricted the opponent at just 109 runs in 20 overs. Spinner Deepti Sharma claimed 3 wickets for 26 while Nandani Sharma took 2 wickets.
Earlier, opener Shafali Verma slammed a fiery 64 off 40 balls as India recovered from early stumbles to post a competitive 149/6 in their 20 overs.
On a slow pitch, where conditions aided spinners and every other batter struggled to time the ball well, Shafali was calculative in her shot selection – playing mostly in the ‘V’ – to hit seven fours and three sixes to reach her 20th T20I fifty. Her innings was also a blend of brute force and wristy bottom-hand power, apart from playing an inventive reverse sweep.
Bangladesh, though, will have themselves to blame as they dropped Shafali on 6, 11 and 56 and also missed a straightforward run-out chance. In all, they had a sloppy fielding unit performance.
Invited to bat first, India got off to a quiet start as Marufa Akter conceded just seven runs in the opening over, as Shafali opened her account with a flicked four. But Bangladesh got a breakthrough in the second over when off-spinner Sultana Khatun removed vice-captain Smriti Mandhana for two, who top-edged a catch to mid-on.
After skipper Harmanpreet Kaur survived a direct hit on her very first delivery after a mix-up with Shafali at the non-striker's end, the latter brought up her half-century off 35 balls in the 13th over. She smashed two consecutive boundaries off Sultana before the off-spinner finally had a catch when substitute fielder Farjana Easmin took the catch at deep mid-wicket.
Richa Ghosh provided late-order impetus, clearing the ropes off Rabeya and Shorna Akter in her 16-ball 21 before being stumped by Nigar Sultana off Nahida Akter in the 19th over. Harmanpreet, who struggled to find her timing for most of her innings, broke free with a towering maximum over deep mid-wicket off Nahida in the same over.
Brief scores: India 149/6 in 20 overs (Shafali Verma 64, Harmanpreet Kaur 24 not out; Sultana Khatun 2-30, Rabeya Khan 1-22) bt Bangladesh 109/7 in 20 overs (Shorna Akter 22no, Deepti Sharma 3/26). Agencies
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