The Indian Women's Cricket team did no harm to its reputation and registered a comprehensie victory over Bangladesh in the semifinal of the Women's T20Is at the Pingfeng Campus Cricket Field, Hangzhou in China on Sunday (September 24). Even though the Nigar Sultana-led women's side won the toss and chose to bat first, the plan clearly backfired as their team never really got going and were eventually bundled out for a mere 51 in 17.5 overs.
Captain Sultana herself was the lone Bangladesh batter that managed to register a score in double figures, making 12 runs off 17 balls with the help of a boundary. No other batter could show resistance to some top-quality bowling from India. Pooja Vastrakar was the wrecker-in-chief for the Indian side and she finished with superb figures of 4 for 17. Titas Sadhu, Amanjot Kaur, Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Devika Vaidya all picked up a wicket each.
Also Read | Asian Games: Indian Rowers Arjun Lal Jat, Arvind Singh Script History, Clinch Silver In Lightweight Men's Double Sculls Event
In the run-chase, even though India lost the wickets of captain Smriti Mandhana (7 off 12) and Shafali Varma (17 off 21), they reached their target of 52 runs in 8.2 overs with 8 wickets in the kitty with Jemimah Rodrigues (20* off 15) and Kanika Ahuja (1* off 2) finishing off the chase for them. For Bangladesh, Marufa Akter and Fahima Khatun picked up a wicket each but that wasn't enough after their disappointing batting performance against a strong Indian side.
With the win, the Indian Women's team has now guaranteed itself a medal as it will feature in the gold medal match. The winner of the semifinal 2 set to be played between Pakistan Women and Sri Lanka Women later on Sunday will fight it out for the ultimate prize in this event on Monday. Meanwhile, all is not lost for Bangladesh who can still bag a bronze medal in Women's T20Is. They will play for bronze with the team that loses the second semifinal. The Bronze medal contest or the third place playoff will also be played on Monday (September 25).