Bangladesh women's team captain Nigar Sultana won the toss and decided to bat first against India in Dambulla on Friday (July 26) in the first semi-final of the Women's Asia Cup T20 2024. (Match Blog | Streaming | Scorecard)
Explaining why she chose to bat, Sultana said: "The wicket looks good. We have played two games here, the ball was coming onto the bat nicely."
She added: "We want to bat freely. 2018 was a long time back. They (India) have been playing well. We need to work on our batting unit. If we perform collectively, we'll put up a good show."
Her opposing number Harmanpreet Kaur said: "We have played really good cricket so far. Today also we want to back ourselves. Powerplay is always important whether you are batting first or second. They (Bangladesh) are a good side, they always give good competition. For us, we need to focus on what we've been doing so far."
India-W vs Bangladesh-W Semi-Final Playing XIs
India Women XIs: Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana, Uma Chetry, Harmanpreet Kaur(c), Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh(w), Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Radha Yadav, Tanuja Kanwar, Renuka Thakur Singh.
Bangladesh Women XIs: Dilara Akter, Murshida Khatun, Nigar Sultana(w/c), Rumana Ahmed, Ishma Tanjim, Ritu Moni, Rabeya Khan, Shorna Akter, Nahida Akter, Jahanara Alam, Marufa Akter.
India had registered a thumping 82-run win over Nepal in their previous match, and are entering the semi-final on the back of a 100 per cent win record in the league stage.
