India thrash Bangladesh in qualifier

later, forward looked to be through on goal but Dalima Chhibber produced an inch- perfect tackle inside her own box to remove the danger.

Having played out a draw against Nepal in their first match, the Indian team was looking to respond in style and 16 minutes into the contest, they opened the scoring from the spot.

Bala Devi was brought down by the Bangladeshi left- back inside the penalty area and Kamala Devi, India’s lone scorer in the previous match, made no mistake from the spot, slotting her kick low to the keeper’s right, who could not reach it despite guessing the correct way.

Bala, wearing the number 10 jersey, soon had another chance to score but her shot was blocked at the very last moment in the 17th minute.

Five minutes later, she successfully converted an excellent cross from the right by Grace Dangmei and opened her account for the competition.

In the very next minute, Bala added another to her kitty after stunning the opposition defence with an absolute rocket of a shot from 30 yards that flew in even before the keeper could react.

The second half was marked by heavy shower but the Indian side continued its goalscoring run.

In the 53rd minute, Kamala scored her second goal by turning in a cross from the right flank after the Bangladesh defence failed to clear the ball away.

Bala completed her hattrick in the 62nd minute by tapping the ball into the empty net . India are unbeaten in the competition with four points from their two matches. — PTI