Opener Shafali Verma slammed a fiery 64 off 40 balls as India recovered from early stumbles to post a competitive 149/6 in their 20 overs against Bangladesh in the first semi-final of the Women’s Asia Cup at the Dubai International Stadium in Dubai on Thursday.
Invited to bat first, India got off to a quiet start as Marufa Akter conceded just seven runs in the opening over, as Shafali opened her account with a flicked four. But Bangladesh got a breakthrough in the second over when off-spinner Sultana Khatun removed vice-captain Smriti Mandhana for two, who top-edged a catch to mid-on. After skipper Harmanpreet Kaur survived a direct hit on her very first delivery after a mix-up with Shafali at the non-striker’s end, the latter brought up her half-century off 35 balls in the 13th over. Despite her being scratchy, Deepti Sharma turned on the screws in the final over by launching Marufa for a four and a six off consecutive deliveries to score a quickfire 13 off six balls. But Deepti was caught at mid-off on the fifth delivery, while Bharti Fulmali was run out on the final ball of the innings as India collected 12 runs from the 20th over to finish one run shy of the 150-mark.
She smashed two consecutive boundaries off Sultana before the off-spinner finally had a catch when substitute fielder Farjana Easmin took the catch at deep mid-wicket.
