Women's Asia Cup 2024: India beat Bangladesh by 10 wickets and reaches the final
Xtra Time Web Desk: India has reached the final of the Women's Asia Cup for the ninth time. In the history of the Asia Cup, the Indian women's team has played in the final every time. Harmanpreet Kaur and her team maintained that tradition. India defeated Bangladesh in the semifinals by a huge margin. They won the match by 10 wickets. Batting first, Bangladesh scored 80 runs for 8 wickets in 20 overs. Openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma chased down the runs in just 11 overs. In the other semifinal, India will play the winner between Sri Lanka and Pakistan in the final on Sunday.
Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana chose to bat first after winning the toss. Apart from winning the toss, nothing went well for Bangladesh. In the first over itself, Dilara Akter got out. Renuka Singh made a mark with the new ball. She took 3 wickets within the power play. After dismissing Dilara, she also sent back Ishima Tanzim and Murshida Khatun. The Bangladeshi batters struggled to understand Renuka’s swing.
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Although captain Nigar stayed at one end, wickets kept falling regularly at the other. Rumana Ahmed, Rabeya Khan, and Ritu Moni couldn’t score runs. After Renuka’s impressive pace bowling, Radha Yadav caught attention with her spin. Bangladesh lost 6 wickets for 44 runs. It seemed they might get all out. Somehow, Nigar dragged the team along, scoring 32 runs off 51 balls. Shorna Akter scored 19 runs. Radha took 2 wickets in the 20th over, which was also a maiden. Renuka took 3 wickets for 10 runs, and Radha took 3 wickets for 14 runs.
It was evident that a target of 81 runs wouldn’t be difficult for India. That’s exactly what happened. Openers Mandhana and Shafali started hitting freely. They utilized the power play well. Despite the low target, they didn’t try to play cautiously. India scored 46 runs in the powerplay.
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After the power play, as the field spread out, India’s scoring rate slowed a bit. However, there was no trouble in achieving victory. No bowler could dismiss the openers. Mandhana scored a half-century. Eventually, India won by 10 wickets with 54 balls to spare. Mandhana remained unbeaten on 55, and Shafali remained unbeaten on 26.
