Women's Asia Cup 2022

India become the first team to enter the semi-finals of Women’s Asia Cup 2022 after hammering Bangladesh by 59 runs

Opener Smriti Mandhana captained Team India in the absence of skipper Harmanpreet Kaur.

Oct 8, 2022 6:01 pm

Women's Asia Cup — Women’s Asia Cup (Source: Twitter)

After losing a close encounter against arch-rivals Pakistan on Friday, the Indian team bounced back with a win against Bangladesh in Women’s Asia Cup on Saturday. Opener Smriti Mandhana captained Team India in the absence of skipper Harmanpreet Kaur. Mandhana’s 47 off 38 balls and Shafali Verma’s quick-fire 55 (44) laid the foundation for a challenging total.

Jemimah Rodrigues‘ crucial cameo of 35* off 24 balls guided Team India to 159-5 in 20 overs. Chasing the 160-run target at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium, Bangladesh only managed to score 100-7 as India registered a 59-run win over the hosts in match No.15 of the Asia Cup 2022.

For Bangladesh, Rumana Ahmed starred with the ball picking up three wickets for 27 runs in three overs. Courtesy of another brilliant spell, Ahmed retains her top spot in the list of highest wicket-takers in the tournament so far. The 31-year-old has picked up eight wickets in four matches so far in the tournament at an average of 5.50 and a remarkable economy of 4.88.

It’s good to come back after the loss: Smriti Mandhana

Deepti Sharma and Shafali shared 4 wickets in India’s convincing win over Bangladesh. Sharma has also joined Ahmed as the highest wicket-taker in the tournament having eight wickets to her name in five matches. With the massive win over the hosts, India have sealed their spot in the semi-final of the Asia Cup 2022. They continue their dominance in the tournament strengthening their position at the top of the points table having won four out of five matches.

“It was disappointing in the last match. It’s good to come back after that loss, really proud of the girls. Today it was a total team performance. Shafali batted well, and also Jemimah played well. We could have scored 10 runs more while batting. We had to keep bowling dot balls, and we had to wait for their batters to make mistakes, which they did. Our bowlers bowled really well,” Mandhana said after the match.

India will next face Thailand in their last match of the group stage on Monday at the same venue.