Dambulla [Sri Lanka]: Renuka Singh's pace and blazing knock from vice-captain Smriti Mandhana allowed India to punch their ticket for the final of the Women's Asia Cup 2024 following a resounding 10-wicket win over Bangladesh on Friday.
India has entered the final for the ninth time in the tournament by outplaying Bangladesh in all facets of the game at Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium.
The 2018 champions tottered to find any sort of momentum on their side, but all of their efforts eventually went in vain.
While chasing a paltry target of 81, the Indian opening duo went all guns blazing right from the first over. Mandhana played it through the line to find the fence with ease and pick up India's first boundary on the fourth ball of the first over.
Shafali joined the party and put her destructive stroke play on display by finding boundaries without breaking a sweat.
In the fourth over, Mandhana smoked the ball into the stand over the deep backward square leg to prove her intentions of taking India home early.
While Bangladesh suffered on the batting surface, Indian players thrived on the same pitch, making it feel like a different venue for batters.
Mandhana continued to assert her dominance by dealing with boundaries. Shafali rotated the strike and allowed her partner to spread carnage in Dambulla.
Fortune was on the side of both batters. Mandhana was caught at the backward point on 35, but Jahanara Alam overstepped the line in the 8th over.
Shafali survived a scare in the next when she attempted to go for a slog sweep but saw her catch dropped by the fielder.
Mandhana struck back-to-back fours off Nahida Akter and raised her bat for her 25th half-century in the T20I format. India capped off their impressive display by chasing the target with nine overs to spare. Mandhana and Shafali went unbeaten with scores of 55* and 26* respectively.
Earlier in the innings, Bangladesh's decision to bat after winning the toss backfired completely, as its batters struggled to counter India's bowling display in the powerplay.
Renuka Singh dismantled Bangladesh's opening order with her sheer pace. She bowled three overs in the powerplay and removed Bangladesh's top three batters, including Dilara Akter (6), Murshida Khatun (4) and Ishma Tanjim (8).
Skipper Nigar Sultana tried to script an unprecedented comeback with her cautious approach against the high-flying Indian bowlers.
However, wickets kept falling on the other end after the introduction of spin duo Deepti Sharma and Radha Yadav.
With her magical left-arm spin, Radha dismantled Bangladesh's middle order. Deepti, on the other hand, chipped in with a wicket and kept things tight in her four-over spell.
Radha claimed three wickets to completely derail Bangladesh's innings. After she dismissed the Bangladesh captain, Nigar, on 32(51), Shorna Akter came in at the end and produced a couple of boundaries towards the end. Her unbeaten 19 propelled Bangladesh to a score of 80/8.
Brief Score: Bangladesh 80/8 (Nigar Sulatana 32; Renuka Singh 3-10, Radha Yadav 3-14) vs India 80/0 (Smriti Mandhana 55*, Shafali Verma 26*).
—ANI