India struggled on a trying wicket after being asked to bat first, but went onto secure a vehement win nevertheless, courtesy of a late batting charge followed by exceptional work from their spinners.
The first semi-final between India and Bangladesh was shaping up as a face-off between India’s batting and Bangladesh’s bowling. Whereas India’s middle-order hadn’t really taken off during the tournament, Bangladesh’s bowling had impressed throughout the campaign.
It wasn’t a surprise when Bangladesh skipper Nigar Sultana Joty elected to bowl after winning the toss. Both sides were unchanged from their previous group stage wins.
Sultana Khatun gave Bangladesh early joy with the big wicket of Smriti Mandhana. The Indian left-hander scored two off five balls before giving a catch to Shorna Akter. However, Bangladesh’s fielding left a lot to be desired as they dropped Shafali Verma twice in the first three overs.
Shafali opened her arms and started scoring freely, helping India pick their scoring pace with back-to-back sixes in the fourth over. Pratika Rawal also opened her arms and smashed a six off Rabeya Khan in the sixth, helping India finish at 45/1 at the end of the Powerplay.
Despite this encouraging start, the Bangladesh spinners refused to let India’s top-order take off in the game.This pressure paid off as Rawal’s struggles in the tournament continued and she fell for 20 off 24 balls against Rabeya.
It
was Shafali who kept India on track, keeping the scoring rate over six runs an over. She reached her 20th T20I half-century in the 13th over. The batter took off on a spree of boundaries in the next over before falling at 64 (40).
India were still eight away from 100, and with the pitch being tricky for newcomers, Bangladesh still had a chance to restrict India to a manageable total.
Bangladesh’s fielding woes continued to hurt them, as Richa Ghosh was able to dispatch a maximum courtesy a dropped catch in the 16th over. Runs didn’t come off easy but big hits from Richa and Harmanpreet Kaur kept India ticking along. A handy cameo from Deepti Sharma (13 from 5) got India to 149/6 at the end of the 20 over mark.
In response, Juairiya Ferdous and Dilara Akter provided Bangladesh with a positive start, unleashing a flurry of fours to get the innings going. However, the scoring rate fell as the spinners were introduced and eventually Ferdous fell to Sree Charani after she was caught by Richa Ghosh in the sixth over.
