NEW DELHI: With a commanding three-wicket haul from pacer Renuka Singh and a blistering fifty from Smriti Mandhana , India defeated Bangladesh by ten wickets to advance to their ninth Women's Asia Cup final at Dambulla on Friday. Defending champions India will face the winner of the second semifinal between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, in the title clash on Sunday, as per PTI. AS IT HAPPENED India easily surpassed the target of 81 thanks to the outstanding performances of Shafali (26 not out, 28b, 2x4) and Mandhana (55 not out, 39b, 9x4, 1x6).
After 11 overs, India reached 83 without a loss. India roared to 46 for no loss in the Power Play thanks to the characteristic strokes around the ground delivered by Mandhana and Shafali. Shafali, who was dropped by Rabeya Khan on 21, played such forceful heaves beyond the line to find the fence.
On the other end, Mandhana displayed some beautiful drives on the off-side, like the one in which the left-hander hit past the covers against bowler Marufa Akter. Once Bangladesh was restricted to 80 for eight, Mandhana showed off her strength once more, hitting bowler Jahanara Alam for a six over deep square leg as India cruised to an inevitable victory. With brilliant spells, Renuka (3/10) up front and left-arm spinner Radha Yadav (3/14) in the middle overs shook Bangladesh.
In fact, Bangladesh barely made a dent in Renuka's deep cuts over the first six overs. Bangladesh chose to bat first, and left-arm spinner Radha Yadav (3/14) provided plenty o.