Team India has defeated Bangladesh comfortably to reach their fifth consecutive final of Women's Asia Cup in the T20 format. The clash was played at Rangiri International Stadium in Dambulla and it was virtually a no-contest with Bangladesh not posting enough runs on the board after opting to bat first. Renuka Singh was the wrecker-in-chief picking up three wickets upfront to derail the opposition's batting right from the word go.
She bowled all her four overs in a spell to finish with 3/10 nipping out Dilara Akter, Murshida Khatun and Ishma Tanjim. Bangladesh never recovered from those blows even though their skipper Nigar Sultana tried to stick around playing a lone hand of 31 runs. With wickets falling regularly at the other end, Sultana could never up the ante despite coming out to bat at number four in the fourth over of the innings.
After Renuka finished her spell with three wickets, India's spinners took over to strangle Bangladesh batters as runs came at a premium. At the same time, India also fielded exceptionally well to ensure pressure remained on the opposition batters. Radha Yadav was at her best with her left-arm spin picking up three wickets as Deepti Sharma and Tanuja Kanwer also tied things up at their end.
At one stage, Bangladesh were 44/6 in the 14th over but then Nigar found an able partner in Shorna Akter who played with intent and the duo managed to add 36 runs for the seventh wicket. Nigar got out in the final over of the innings while Shorna remained unbeaten on 19 off 18 deliveries. Bangladesh played out a maiden in the final over with Radha picking up two wickets. They could only post 80 runs for the loss of eight wickets in their 20 overs.
The target was never going to challenge India and their openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma showed off their skills to get the team off to a good start. Bangladesh needed early wickets but that didn't happen and they went down meekly in the end. India's star opening duo didn't give them much chance to romp past the target of 81 runs in 11 overs without losing a single wicket. While Smriti remained unbeaten on 55, Shafali scored 30 runs in the meagre run-chase. India will now face arch-rivals Pakistan or Sri Lanka who will lock horns in the second semifinal later in the day with the final set to take place on July 28 at 3 PM IST.
