Dubai, Sep 10 (SocialNews.XYZ) Bangladesh have won the toss and elected to bowl first against India in the first semi-final of the 2026 Women’s Asia Cup at the Dubai International Stadium on Thursday. Both teams are unchanged from their previous clashes in the high-stakes knockout clash.
The winner of this clash will seal their place in the final to be played on Sunday. Seven-time champions India enter the crucial semi-final on the back of an unbeaten run in Group A, where they recorded a series of clinical victories over Thailand, Hong Kong-China and Pakistan.
“To be honest, we thought of batting first only because we thought having runs on the board would give us a lot of confidence, and it's good that we got batting first. Definitely. T20 format is like that - you can't take any team lightly, and the result is always uncertain. Today is a fresh game, and we have to go with a positive approach.
“I've been saying that this pitch is really tricky. You can't really set something in your mind, but let's see how our batting power play goes, and accordingly we'll see how much we can put on board,” said India captain Harmanpreet Kaur.
In contrast, 2018 edition winners Bangladesh navigated a turbulent time to reach the last four stage, including emerging victorious in a must-win game against the UAE on Tuesday to finish second in Group B.
“We want to bowl first, seeing the conditions. We want to give our bowlers the wicket to work on. I think it's just a new day. We're just looking forward to playing good cricket here because it's been a long time.
“We definitely have some good memories from (2018 triumph), but it's an important day for all of us because it's our last game in this tournament. It could not be the last game because if we could do well here, maybe we might get another chance (in the final),” said Bangladesh skipper Nigar Sultana Joty.
Playing XIs:
India: Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana, Pratika Rawal, Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Deepti Sharma, Bharti Fulmali, Richa Ghosh (wk), Prema Rawat, N Sree Charani, Kranti Gaud, and Nandni Sharma
Bangladesh: Dilara Akter, Juairiya Ferdous, Sobhana Mostary, Nigar Sultana (captain & wk), Sharmin Akhter, Shorna Akter, Fahima Khatun, Nahida Akter, Rabeya Khan, Sultana Khatun, and Marufa Akter
Source: IANS
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