END OF OVER:20 | 5 Runs 2 Wkts | BAN-W: 109/7 (41 runs required, RR: 5.45)
- Shorna Akter22 (18b)
- Nandani Sharma2-0-10-2
- Shree Charani4-1-14-1
So, India make the final and will now await the winner of tomorrow's SF2 between Pakistan vs Sri Lanka. Till then, on behalf of Chetan of the Cricinfo scoring team and my fellow co-commentator Hemant Brar, this is Sreshth Shah saying bye! And don't forget, if you're craving more cricket right now, you can always play our DAILY GAMES! Ta-ta.
Finally, a chat with Harmanpreet Kaur, India captain: "Happy the way things are going. Happy with the way our batting and bowling is going. There was a value to the good balls. If you were giving revvs, then you were giving value to the balls. Spinners from both teams bowled well today, batters had it hard, spinners used the pitch really well. [Deepti cameo, Shafali bowling] The small partnerships matter, especially on a pitch like this. Richa also played two few valuable shots. Deepti was excellent with the ball, and got us a few breakthroughs."
Next up in the presentation party is Shafali Verma, the Player of the Match: "Very humid out there. Sometimes I can't even breathe, but I had to relax. I didn't get those balls early on, and I tried to play grounded, and I got a few chances. I know its my job to hit sixes and fours in the powerplay - so trying to do that."
Time for the presentation and first we'll hear from Nigar Sultana, Bangladesh captain: "We didn't bowl well, unlike the other last three games. We fielded well in other games, not today, we put down chances. That was the pressure, I guess, just the bad day for the whole team. We really wanted to restrict them to a total we could chase, our batting powerplay was not good too. [Toss decision] We bowled well, we created our chances... we couldn't capitalise. I think we have achieved a lot but one thing I felt we played limited... next time we want to play a more all-out game."
9.50pm Bangladesh bow out with two wins and two defeats, and the focus now turns to India. They're one win away from an eighth Asia Cup title, and you could argue they haven't yet put together the perfect game in this tournament. The positive is that almost everyone has spent some time in the middle and got among the runs, even if at wildly varying strike rates. Perhaps the final is when some of those slightly rusty batters find their best. India fielding wasn't exactly flawless either. Bowling remains their best suit, atleast on current form.
9.41pm Mild celebrations from the Indians. Harmanpreet isn't really smiling as she goes through the handshakes. It wasn't a perfect batting performance from India, but their bowling was excellent. Shree Charani, Deepti Sharma, Shafali Verma and Prema Rawat all made run-scoring difficult, while regular wickets ensured Bangladesh never really found a way into the chase. Deepti was the pick of the bowlers in terms of figures, finishing with 3 for 26.
The difference, of course, was in the batting between the two sides. Bangladesh hit two sixes, India hit nine. Bangladesh did hit 11 fours, though, compared to India's 9, so power-hitting and clearing the boundary rope remains their achilles heel.
Prakash: "I was definitely not expecting Bangladesh to chase this down, but this chase was just, for the lack of a better word, awful."
Sheela: "Zero Extras. Well Done IND Bowlers!"
Shaurya : "SL will pose to be a challenge in the final to add to India's middle order woes...will be a neck to neck match i believe!!" -- Definitely favourites against Pakistan, but hey, you never know
Rabeya Khan hit wicket b NSS Sharma 0 (1m 1b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0
Fahima Khatun c Rawat b NSS Sharma 14 (16m 14b 2x4 0x6) SR: 100
Laksh: "who do you suppose will win the potm? deepti or shafali?" -- Shafali. She had luck on her side and some of her shots were excellent. Especially if you see the rest of the batting in this game. She did have the new ball (and pacers) to work with though...
Chan: "India sleepwalking their way to the final."
END OF OVER:19 | 6 Runs | BAN-W: 104/5 (46 runs required from 6 balls, RR: 5.47, RRR: 46.00)
- Fahima Khatun10 (12b)
- Shorna Akter21 (15b)
- Shree Charani4-1-14-1
- Shafali Verma4-0-25-0
Chan: "India sleepwalking their way to the final. Hopefully Pakistan can do better in the rematch "
END OF OVER:18 | 10 Runs | BAN-W: 98/5 (52 runs required from 12 balls, RR: 5.44, RRR: 26.00)
- Fahima Khatun5 (7b)
- Shorna Akter20 (14b)
- Shafali Verma4-0-25-0
- Shree Charani3-1-8-1
murali: "Another really boring match...even if India did not do well with the bat."
END OF OVER:17 | 4 Runs | BAN-W: 88/5 (62 runs required from 18 balls, RR: 5.17, RRR: 20.66)
- Fahima Khatun4 (6b)
- Shorna Akter11 (9b)
- Shree Charani3-1-8-1
- Deepti Sharma4-0-26-3
