Bangladesh were 55 for 6, and a 42-run stand sent them to a semi-final against India

Bangladesh’s last two recognised batters walked out and back inside three deliveries, and at 55 for 6 in Dubai the arithmetic of the Women’s Asia Cup was suddenly running against them. By the end of the innings they had 103 on the board. It should not have been enough. It won by 34 runs, and it sent Bangladesh into Thursday’s semi-final against India.

Two batters, one ball each

United Arab Emirates captain Esha Oza put Bangladesh in at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Tuesday and the decision looked immediately correct. Dilara Akter was caught by Oza off Suraksha Kotte without scoring. Sobhana Mostary went for 3, also caught off Kotte. Juairiya Ferdous made 16 from 20 before holing out, and when Nigar Sultana chipped a return catch back to Kotte for 23, Bangladesh were 52 for 4 with a third of the innings still to bat.

The collapse arrived three runs later. Shorna Akter faced one delivery from Indhuja Nandakumar and was caught. Fahima Khatun faced one delivery and was trapped in front. Neither scored. Bangladesh had lost two wickets without adding a run, and 55 for 6 is not a position Twenty20 teams usually talk their way out of.

Sharmin Akhter and Nahida Akter did not try anything clever with it. They put on 42 for the seventh wicket, and Sharmin’s 38 from 31 balls stayed the top score of the night. She fell at 97, caught off Janani Thirukkumaran. Nahida, the vice-captain, finished 16 not out from 26, which reads slowly until you notice that nobody else in the innings looked comfortable for longer than a few deliveries.

Kotte’s 3 for 11 from four overs was the pick of the UAE attack. Nandakumar took 2 for 21. Between them they conceded 32 runs in eight overs and had every reason to expect their batters to knock off 104.

The chase that never started

Marufa Akter bowled Oza for 2 and UAE never recovered the initiative. Sultana Khatun had Theertha Satish caught for 11 from 24 balls, an innings that told you plenty about how the pitch was playing under lights. Marufa took a second when Samaira Dharnidharka went for 8.

Rabeya Khan then took the middle order apart with her leg spin, removing Rinitha Rajith, Heena Hotchandani and Nandakumar to finish with 3 for 14 from four overs. Hotchandani’s 18 from 19 was the only innings that moved at anything like the required rate, and she was the fifth wicket to fall, at 38.

Nahida added two more to her evening’s work, Fahima had Kotte caught, and UAE closed on 69 for 9. They had needed 104. Nahida took the player of the match award for 16 not out and 2 for 18, a fair summary of a match in which competence was rare enough to be decisive.

India next, and India have not been tested

Second place in Group B was the prize and Bangladesh took it, finishing behind Sri Lanka, who won all three of their matches. That puts Bangladesh in the first semi-final against India at the same Dubai ground on Thursday. Sri Lanka play Pakistan in the second on Friday.

India arrive with a group record that has not been close. They beat Thailand by 94 runs, then put 193 for 5 on Hong Kong and won by 137, with Smriti Mandhana making 124. Against Pakistan they needed 56 and got there in 8.4 overs, with seven wickets and 68 balls to spare.

There is precedent for Bangladesh in this fixture, if not much of it. They beat India in the 2018 Asia Cup final in Kuala Lumpur, chasing 113 to win by three wickets, and India have lost a final in this tournament since too, to Sri Lanka in 2024. The trophy is not theirs by default any more. Repeating 2018 on Thursday will take considerably more than 103 from Bangladesh, though, and on Tuesday’s evidence the top order is the part of this side that has not yet turned up in the UAE.

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