Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur was elated with her team’s all-round performance as they stunned Bangladesh Women by 40 runs in the first semi-final of the Women’s Asia Cup 2026 campaign, advancing to the grand finale in Dubai.
Speaking at the post-match presentation, the Indian captain reckoned that the surface assisted both teams’ spinners, adding that batters were trying hard to get runs. She heaped praise on Shafali Verma and Deepti Sharma for turning things around.
“The way things are going, really happy with the way we have been batting and bowling. There was value for good balls. If you were giving revs to the ball, there was value to that ball. Both teams’ spinners bowled really well today. Batters were trying hard to get those runs, but there was a lot for the spinners, and they used this pitch really well,” Harmanpreet Kaur said after the semi-final.
Delving into the details of the game, India Women were tasked to bat first, and they posted 149/6 in 20 overs, thanks to Shafali Verma’s 64-run knock off 40 balls with seven fours and three sixes.
In response, Bangladesh could score 109/7 in 20 overs, losing the game by 40 runs. Deepti Sharma was the wrecker-in-chief with a three-wicket haul while Nandani Sharma scalped two important wickets.
“The small partnerships were there, especially when you have a pitch like this where you don’t know how (things) are going to be, so small things matter a lot. All the partnership (that) we had today while batting, those were very crucial, and even Richa Ghosh’s batting. She played a few really good shots. And with the ball, Deepti was excellent. Whenever we needed, she came up and gave us breakthroughs,” she concluded.
