Bangladesh put India in, Shafali Verma made 64, and India are in a sixth Asia Cup final out of six

Nigar Sultana won the toss at the Dubai International Stadium on Thursday night and put India in, which is the decision most captains make at that ground and the one that usually works. It did not work here. India made 149 for 6, Bangladesh managed 109 for 7, and most of the 40-run gap between them was built by one player inside the first ten overs.

Shafali Verma’s 64 came off 40 balls with seven fours and three sixes. On a surface where the ball was holding up and the spinners were getting grip, a strike rate of 160 was not something anyone else on either side came close to.

India’s innings kept stalling, and Shafali kept restarting it

Smriti Mandhana went for 2, so the opening stand never really happened. Pratika Rawal took 24 balls over her 20, which says as much about the pitch as it does about her batting. Harmanpreet Kaur finished unbeaten on 24 from 28 and spent most of that rotating strike rather than trying to clear the ropes.

Richa Ghosh’s 21 off 16 was the only other innings that moved at any pace, until Deepti Sharma arrived at the death and hit 13 off six balls. Without those two cameos India are probably looking at 130 and a far more interesting last five overs.

Bangladesh’s bowlers deserved better than the scoreboard suggests. Sultana Khatun took 2 for 30, and Marufa Akter, Nahida Akter and Rabeya Khan each picked up a wicket. What let them down was the fielding. Shafali was put down more than once and survived a run-out chance as well, and in a knockout match against India you are allowed one of those, not several.

Deepti Sharma took the chase apart

Chasing 150 on that pitch needed someone to bat 15 overs. Nobody did. Dilara Akter made 21, Nigar Sultana 19, and Shorna Akter finished unbeaten on 22 well after the required rate had climbed out of reach. Seven wickets went down and Bangladesh closed on 109.

Deepti Sharma’s 3 for 26 was the difference between a slow chase and a dead one. Nandani Sharma bowled the tightest spell of the night for 2 for 10, and Shree Charani (1 for 14) and Prema Rawat (1 for 21) took the rest. India’s spinners did essentially all of the work, again.

Six editions, six finals

This is the sixth time the Women’s Asia Cup has been played as a T20 tournament, and the sixth time India have reached the final. They have won three of the previous five. Bangladesh took the 2018 title and Sri Lanka won in 2024, which is why Sri Lanka go into the second semi-final as defending champions.

Shafali took the player-of-the-match award for the 64. Sri Lanka play Pakistan in that semi-final on Friday at 8pm IST in Dubai, and whoever wins meets India in Sunday’s final at the same ground.

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