India will now face the winner of the second semi-final between Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
Dubai. Thanks to the half-century of opener Shefali Verma (64 runs), the seven-time champion Indian team defeated Bangladesh by 40 runs in the first semi-final on Thursday and entered the final of the Women's Asia Cup to be held on Sunday.
India will now face the winner of the second semi-final between Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Despite the disappointing performance of other Indian batsmen, Shefali (seven fours and three sixes) took full advantage of the lease of life on a challenging pitch and took the Indian team to the score of 149 runs for six wickets. Shefali got life thrice during her aggressive 40-ball innings. It seemed difficult for the Bangladesh team to chase this target and that is exactly what happened. The team could score only 109 runs for seven wickets in 20 overs.
For that, Shorna Akhtar was the top scorer with 22 not out. Dilara Akhtar scored 21 runs and captain Nigar Sultana scored 19 runs. For India, in spin-friendly conditions, experienced spinner Deepti Sharma took three wickets for 26 runs in four overs, while Sri Charani and Prema Rawat got one wicket each. Nandani Sharma took two wickets. However, like the previous match, Pratika Rawal dropped two catches in this one too.
Bangladesh's poor fielding
Bangladesh's bowling attack, which has performed impressively so far in the tournament, did not allow the Indian batsmen to play freely for most of the innings. Bangladesh dropped a total of four catches, otherwise it would have been difficult for India to cross the 120-run mark. Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur (24 not out in 28 balls), who usually plays spin bowling well, struggled for most of her innings. He scored just four runs in his first 16 balls. Shefali single-handedly took India to the challenging score. He got a lease of life on personal scores of six, 11 and 56 runs. The strike rate of the top four Indian batsmen was less than 100 while Shefali scored at an excellent strike rate of 160. His innings also included three sixes against spin bowlers.
Good start for India in powerplay
India made a good start at 45 for one in the powerplay, but failed to increase the run rate in the middle overs. India's new number three batsman Pratika Raval (20 runs in 24 balls) has been under pressure in the tournament, but she made a great start on Thursday. He hit an excellent cover drive on Akhtar's ball. Later, she came out of the crease and hit a six, but was out on the ball of the same bowler.