Dubai. The Indian women's cricket team continues its winning campaign in the ACC Women's Asia Cup 2026. Team India has entered the final by defeating Bangladesh by 40 runs in the first semi-final. With this victory, India has also become the first team to reach the final of the tournament.
In the match played in Dubai, the Indian team chose to bat first and scored 149 runs for 5 wickets in 20 overs. In reply, Bangladesh team could score only 109 runs after losing 7 wickets in 20 overs. For India, Deepti Sharma took 3 wickets and kept Bangladesh's run rate in check.
Shafali became the star of the match
Shafali Verma was the biggest star in India's innings. While the rest of the batsmen had some trouble scoring runs on a difficult pitch, Shafali managed one end and scored runs at a fast pace.
Let us tell you that luck was also on his side in his innings. Shafali got life thrice due to poor fielding of Bangladesh. Bangladeshi players dropped a total of four catches in the match and the Indian team directly benefited from this.
Shafali played a brilliant inning of 64 runs, in which she hit 7 fours and 3 sixes. The strike rate of his innings was 160.
India's fast start in powerplay
The Indian team scored 45 runs at the loss of one wicket in six overs of powerplay. After this, it was not easy for India to maintain the run pace in the middle overs.
Pratika Rawal scored 20 runs in 24 balls. He hit a brilliant cover drive at the beginning of the innings and later came out of the crease and hit a six. However, his innings ended on the ball of Marufa.
Richa and Harmanpreet also added important runs
Richa Ghosh played a useful inning of 21 runs in 16 balls. Whereas Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur scored unbeaten 24 runs. Harmanpreet struggled to score runs initially and could only score four runs in her first 16 balls.
But he showed pace in the last part of the innings and made an important contribution in taking India's score to 149 runs by hitting two sixes.
Bangladesh disintegrates under the pressure of target of 150 runs
India scored 149 runs in challenging conditions. After this, the Indian bowlers did not give Bangladesh batsmen a chance to play freely.
Bangladesh team could score only 109 runs for 7 wickets in 20 overs and India won the match by 40 runs. Deepti Sharma took maximum 3 wickets for India.
India in the final for the 10th consecutive time
With this victory, the Indian women's team has further strengthened its excellent record in the Asia Cup. Team India has made it to the finals every time since the first edition played in 2004. This is India's 10th consecutive final entry in the history of the Women's Asia Cup.
Now in the title match, India will face the winner of the second semi-final between Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
India eyes 8th Asia Cup title
After reaching the final, the Indian team will now look to win the Women's Asia Cup title for the 8th time. In the semi-finals, the team has performed better under pressure in both batting and bowling. Now in the title match, India would like to end this campaign with a trophy.
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