Dambulla (Sri Lanka): India continued their stellar run in the Women’s Asia Cup on Friday beating Bangladesh in the semi-final by 10 wickets at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium, Dambulla. The Indian opening duo of Shafali Varma and Smriti Mandhana forged a partnership of 83 runs to ensure an easy win for the Indian side.
Mandhana played a knock of unbeaten 55 runs while Shafali scored unbeaten 26 runs. The duo ensured a successful chase in just 11 overs.
Earlier in the day, Indian bowlers just ran through the Bangladesh batting unit with Nigar Sultana (32) being the lone warrior for their side. Bangladesh started losing wickets from the start and were reduced to 44/6 as Renuka Singh ripped apart the top-order of the batting side.
Nigar provided some sigh of relief for the Bangladeshi fans for a while as she steadied the innings and formed a 36-run partnership for the seventh wicket along with Shorna Akhter. However, Niaga departed on 32 and that opened the floodgates once again and the batting side managed to post only 80/8 on the scoreboard.
Renuka Singh Thakur and Radha Yadav scalped three wickets each. Renuka picked three wickets with an economy of 2.50 while Radha clocked an economy of 3.50. Pooja Vastrakar and Deepti Sharma also chipped in with one wicket each.
The Indian team will now face the winner of Sri Lanka and Pakistan who will be pitted against each other in the semis. The final of the tournament will be played on July 27 and India will be keen to defend their title.
