India captain Harmanpreet Kaur created an unwanted record during the first semi-final of the Women’s Asia Cup 2026 against Bangladesh at Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai on Thursday. Known for her destructive middle-order batting, the 37-year-old Kaur looked uncharacteristically bogged down against Bangladesh’s disciplined bowling in the knockout fixture.
The India captain found it difficult to get going with the bat, scoring just three runs from her first 15 deliveries. Her slow start placed her among the lowest-scoring Indian batters after facing the first 15 balls in a T20I innings. As per Cricbuzz, Harmanpreet’s three runs off her first 15 balls against Bangladesh in Dubai in 2026 is the joint-fifth-lowest score by an India Women batter at that stage of a T20I innings. The record for the fewest runs scored off the first 15 balls belongs to Harmanpreet herself. She had managed just one run from her first 15 deliveries against Pakistan in Delhi in 2016. Mithali Raj occupies the second spot on the list, having scored two runs off her first 15 balls against Pakistan in Delhi during the same year. Punam Raut and Mansi Joshi are next, with both players scoring three runs off their first 15 deliveries. Raut achieved the mark against Australia in Gros Islet in 2010, while Joshi did so against South Africa in Surat in 2019.
With run-scoring tough on the pitch, India will fancy her chances to enter the final on Sunday. Her inability to find the boundaries early on added pressure to the Indian innings as Bangladesh looked to keep the scoring under control. On a slow pitch, where conditions aided spinners and every other batter struggled to time the ball well, Shafali was calculative in her shot selection – playing mostly in the ‘V’ – to hit seven fours and three sixes to reach her 20th T20I fifty. Her innings was also a blend of brute force and wristy bottom-hand power, apart from playing an inventive reverse sweep. In all, they had a sloppy fielding unit performance. Playing XIs: India: Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana, Pratika Rawal, Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Deepti Sharma, Bharti Fulmali, Richa Ghosh (wk), Prema Rawat, N Sree Charani, Kranti Gaud, and Nandni Sharma Bangladesh: Dilara Akter, Juairiya Ferdous, Sobhana Mostary, Nigar Sultana (captain & wk), Sharmin Akhter, Shorna Akter, Fahima Khatun, Nahida Akter, Rabeya Khan, Sultana Khatun, and Marufa Akter
Harmanpreet’s latest slow start against Bangladesh means she has now appeared twice on the list of India Women’s lowest scores after the first 15 balls of a T20I innings. Least runs scored off the first 15 balls of a T20I innings (India Women) 1 – Harmanpreet Kaur vs PAK-W, Delhi, 2016 2 – Mithali Raj vs PAK-W, Delhi, 2016 3 – Punam Raut vs AUS-W, Gros Islet, 2010 3 – Mansi Joshi vs SA-W, Surat, 2019 3 – Harmanpreet Kaur vs BAN-W, Dubai, 2026 Harmanpreet’s knock came in a crucial knockout encounter, where India were looking to secure a place in the final of the Women’s Asia Cup 2026. Shafali Verma Helps India Post A Good Total 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. Bangladesh, though, will have themselves to blame as they dropped Shafali on 6, 11 and 56 and also missed a straightforward run-out chance.
