India Reach Sixth T20 Asia Cup Final as Shafali and Deepti Shine Against Bangladesh

The Indian women’s cricket team continued to assert their dominance and maintained their unbeaten streak at the ongoing Women T20 Asia Cup as they marched into their sixth final of the tournament in as many editions. They beat Bangladesh in their semi-final match by 40 runs in Dubai.

After Bangladesh asked India to bat first on a slow pitch in Dubai, Shafali Varma got India off to a flying start and she scored a quickfire 64 off 40 balls, making full use of the four reprieves she got whilst she was on 6, 11, 50 and 56. Her knock helped India post a formidable total of 149 for six even as other batters struggled to time the ball on a sluggish pitch.

During their chase, Bangladeshi showed aggression, as Juairiya Ferdous and Dilara Akter went after the Indian pacers during the initial few overs. But as soon as Harmanpreet Kaur introduced spin, they felt powerless and struggled to score runs. Even as India failed to grab as many as four catches during their innings, Bangladesh did not have someone like Shafali to take advantage of the chances they were given and in the end they could muster only 109 for 7 seven.

Deepti Spins a Web

As soon as India’s premier spin bowler, Deepti Sharma was introduced into the attack, she struck in her very first over. With the asking rate climbing fast, Ferdous tried to break the shackles and in her bid to hit Deepti for a six was holed out at deep mid wicket.

Nigar Sultana and Sobhana Mostary added 31 runs for the third wicket but they consumed far too many balls for it before Deepti ended their partnership by castling Mostary. This wicket triggered a mini collapse for Bangladesh as they lost the next three wickets in 15 balls, adding 17 runs to their score.

Prema Rawat had Nigar caught at short third before Deepti once again showed her class with the ball by removing Sharmin to reduce Bangladesh to 83 for 5 in the 16th over.

India’s Fielding Woes

For India the win and a place in the finals seemed certain by the end of the 16th over. But going into the summit clash, India would like to address and improve on one of the critical aspects of the game - their field. During the entire match, the team’s effort was sub-par and they dropped many catches.

In the very first over of the Bangladeshi chase, Pratika Rawal dropped a simple overhead catch at cover-point to give Dilara a lifeline. Later, she dropped another catch at backward point. Indian vice-captain and premier batter, Smriti Mandhana too had an ordinary day on the field as she misjudged a catch on the fence, which he could have easily pouched on any other day.

While these mistakes on the field did not cost India dearly, the team would surely like to pull up their game and improve their field efforts in the final to give themselves the best chance to bring home the Asia Cup.