WOMEN’S ASIA CUP SEMI-FINAL India starts firm favourite against Bangladesh
DAMBULLA: Shafali Verma will be aiming to come out all guns blazing while Smriti Mandhana will be more than motivated to get a big one as India starts overwhelming favourite against Bangladesh in the semi-final of the women’s Asia Cup here on Friday.
Shafali, with 158 runs, has been the second highest run-scorer in the tournament so far and against Nigar Sultana’s team, which has a host of slow bowlers, she will have to give India a good start.
The ‘Women In Blue’ pummeled the opposition in all three games -- winning by seven wickets against Pakistan, 78 runs against UAE and by an 82-run margin against Nepal.
However, skipper Harmanpreet Kaur knows that in Asia Cup, it is only the semi-final and final that matter the most and they would not miss the fact that Bangladesh on select days can be a dangerous side.
The start will be very important for India and Shafali will want her senior opening partner Mandhana to also fire in unison. The elegant left-hander was in great nick during her 45 against Pakistan, which could have been a bigger one in terms of volume.
With UAE and Nepal being two of the three opponents during the group league stage, the Indian team would certainly face a sterner test against a bunch of decent slow bowlers in the Bangladesh ranks.
Slow left-arm orthodox Nahida Akhter and young leg-spinner Rabeya Khan have both claimed five wickets apiece.
While Nahida with a parsimonious economy rate of 3.25 would like to build the pressure on an experienced batting line-up while leg-break bowler Rabeya is likely to push for wickets.
The medium pace department comprises veteran Jahanara Alam along with Ritu Moni, who also has chipped in with three wickets.