Dominant India enter Women's Asia Cup 2026 final
Overcoming their early struggles with the bat, India secured a confident win over Bangladesh and booked their place for the final in the Women's Asia Cup in Dubai.
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 Verma on the charge | Women's T20WC 2026
Shafali Verma takes the attack to the Aussies with a thumping six over extra cover at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026.
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.
A sliding catch from Kranti Gaud brought the second wicket in the form of Dilara Akter, which was picked by Deepti Sharma even as the asking rate climbed. The quest to preserve wickets ended up impacting Bangladesh’s scoring rate, which climbed to beyond 10 by the mid-innings stage.
By the time Deepti's second strike came in the 14th over in the form of Sobhana Mostary, Bangladesh's ask had reached about 13 runs an over.
Finally, Nigar Sultana Joty opener her arms and slammed a six, the first of the innings to give Bangladesh some hope. However, in the very next over, Nigar (19) fell while trying to dispatch Prema Rawat, and Bangladesh's hopes of making the final were all but lost.
Finishing her spell with 3/26, Deepti now has the most wickets in this edition of Women's Asia Cup. Her eleven scalps have come at an average of 3.63.
Nandani Sharma finished the game in style, securing a 40-run win for her side and also getting back-to-back wickets off the last two balls of the game.
India will now feature in the final of the tournament on Sunday, 13 September. They'll face off against the winner of the contest between Sri Lanka and Pakistan, which will take place tomorrow.