Bangladesh Suffer Another Heavy Defeat to India at the Asian Games

After the Asia Cup, the Bangladesh women’s cricket team was also crushed by a powerful India in the semi-finals of the Asian Games. India easily defeated India by a huge margin of 114 runs in the second semi-final on Sunday. The Indian team won the match at the Korogi Sports Park on the strength of Shafali Verma’s unbeaten century.

India won the toss and elected to bat first. They scored 195 runs for the loss of 4 wickets. Shafali Verma remained unbeaten on 100 runs off just 49 balls, hitting 3 fours and 9 sixes. This was the second highest team score in the history of Asian Games women’s cricket. India also set a new record in women’s T20 International cricket by hitting 12 sixes in an innings.
Chasing a big target of 196 runs, Bangladesh were in trouble from the start. The team was bowled out for just 81 runs in 15.4 overs after losing wickets in quick succession.

Bangladesh suffered a major setback early in the innings. They lost 2 wickets for just 9 runs in 3 overs. Then, captain Nigar Sultana departed after 38 runs. After 7 overs, the team lost 4 wickets for 43 runs and 5 wickets for 49 runs in 9.2 overs, and was completely eliminated from the match.

For Bangladesh, Dilara Akhtar top-scored with 27 runs (4 fours and 1 six off 23 balls). Sharmin Akhtar also scored 10 runs off 20 balls and Sultana Khatun remained unbeaten on 12 runs off 8 balls.

Among the Indian bowlers, Nandini Sharma and Deepti Sharma took 3 wickets each. Besides, Sri Charni took 2 wickets for 7 runs in 3 overs.

Earlier, the main attraction in India’s batting was Shafali Verma’s stormy innings. She scored a half-century in just 24 balls and completed her maiden T20 century in 49 balls. She opened with a 72-run partnership with Smriti Mandhana (37 off 19 balls). She then put on another big partnership of 94 runs for the third wicket with Harmanpreet Kaur (40 off 33 balls).

Among Bangladesh’s bowlers, Marufa Akhtar, Sanjida Akhtar Meghla, Rabeya Khan and Nahida Akhtar took one wicket each but could not stop the pace of India’s runs.

Despite failing to make it to the final, Bangladesh still have a chance to return from the tournament with a bronze medal. They will face Pakistan in the bronze medal match on Tuesday. Pakistan lost to Sri Lanka by 8 wickets in the first semi-final of the day.