Dambulla: Bangladesh wins the toss and elected to bat first against India in the first semi-final of the Women’s Asia Cup at the Rangiri Dambulla International Cricket Stadium on Friday. The winner of this clash will enter the title clash at the same venue on Sunday.
India have a 19-3 lead over Bangladesh in women’s T20I meetings. In May this year, India won 5-0 over Bangladesh in a bilateral series at Sylhet. After winning the toss, Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana said Marufa Akter comes in for Sabikun Jesmin.
“The wicket looks good. The ball was coming onto the bat nicely. They have been playing well. 2018 was a long time ago. They (India) have been playing well. If we perform collectively, we’ll put up a good show. We need to work on our batting and building partnerships,” said Nigar.
India captain Harmanpreet Kaur said, “We have played good cricket so far. Today also we want to back ourselves. They are a good side. For us, we need to focus on what we’ve been doing.” India has got Uma Chetry at number three instead of Dayalan Hemalatha, while Harmanpreet and Pooja Vastrakar return after resting in the previous game against Nepal.
Playing XIs-
India: Shefali Verma, Smriti Mandhana, Uma Chetry, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Radha Yadav, Tanuja Kanwar and Renuka Thakur Singh
Bangladesh: Dilara Akter, Murshida Khatun, Nigar Sultana (c & wk), Rumana Ahmed, Ishma Tanjim, Ritu Moni, Rabeya Khan, Shorna Akter, Nahida Akter, Jahanara Alam and Marufa Akter
