Women’s Asia Cup: Bangladesh shock India to win maiden title
KUALA LUMPUR: Indian women’s cricket team faced abject humiliation in the Asia Cup T20 final on Sunday as the six-time champions went down against Bangladesh by three wickets.
The tournament turned out to be a nightmare for the ‘Women in Blue’ as they lost to the minnows twice inside a week. The tournament also raised a big question mark about the utility of two veterans Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami in the shortest format even as the BCCI is forced to carry on with them due to lack of credible replacements.
Needing two off the last delivery of the match, Jahanara Alam hit rival skipper Harmanpreet Kaur towards deep mid-wicket and scampered home for a double to chase down a modest target of 113.
For India, it was Harmanpreet (56 off 42 balls, 2/19) and leg-spinner Poonam Yadav (4/9), who put up a semblance of fight as a below-par batting effort once again became their undoing.
After Bangladesh skipper Salma Khatun won the toss and chose to field, none of the Indian batters save Harmapreet, looked comfortable against the Bangladesh attack. Had it not been for Harmanpreet’s i nnings, the Indian team which had slumped to 62 for five, would have been shot out for less than 100.
The worst part was the number of deliveries wasted by the top three batters - Mithali Raj (11 off 18 balls), Smriti Mandhana (7 off 12) and Deepti Sharma (4 off 11 balls).
A lot of credit would got to leftarm spinner Nahida Akhtar (0/12 in 4 overs), who bottled up Mithali, whose T20 batting once again came under scanner. She was simply unable to get the boundaries. Deepti’s inability to produce big shots has always been a problem and it again became a factor in defeat.
With Veda Krishnamurthy (11, 10 balls) falling cheaply, it became difficult for Harmanpreet to bat freely. Rumana Ahmed (2/22 ) and off-spinner Khadija Tul Kubra (2/23) inflicted maximum damage.
Chasing a modest total, spinners Poonam and Ekta Bisht (0/13 in 4 overs) did try to bring India back in the match but Jhulan Goswami (0/20 in 2 overs) was expensive with the ball apart from being slow in the field. Nigar Sultana (27 off 24 balls) and Rumana Ahmed (23 off 22 balls) were the ones instrumental in Bangladesh’s chase.
The two defeats inside a week against Bangladesh, to whom India have never lost in either format before this tournament, indeed is a wake-up call.
Brief scores: India 112/9 in 20 overs (Harmanpreet Kaur 56 off 42 balls, Rumana Ahmed 2/22); Bangladesh 113/7 in 20 overs (Nigar Sultana 27 off 24 balls, Poonam Yadav 4/9)