Bangladesh national women鈥檚 team will look to get themselves into the final of the Asia Cup for the second time as they take on India in the first semi-final of the tournament today in Dambulla, Sri Lanka.
The match will begin at 2:30pm and will be televised live by T-Sports and GTV.
Bangladesh arrive at the final four after finishing second in their group following a defeat against Sri Lanka and wins against Thailand and Malaysia.
While the comprehensive wins will give them some confidence, their performance in the first game, and overall this year, is a point of serious worry.
They have played 11 T20 Internationals this year and their only wins have come in the last two games. The previous nine defeats include a 5-0 series drubbing to India at home, alongside a 3-0 home defeat to Australia.
India, on the other hand, won all three games of their group and have won 10 out of their 14 matches this year.
Bangladesh, though, can take some heart from their previous knockout meeting against India, which came in 2018 Asia Cup final, as they had managed to clinch the country鈥檚 first senior title 鈥� across genders 鈥� with a three-wicket win.
They also won a game last year when they beat India in the final match of a three-match series at home that they lost 2-1.
Bangladesh skipper Nigar Sultana Joty was glad that they managed to reach the final four after failing to do so in the last edition in 2022 at home.
鈥極f course, our next target is the final. When we left Bangladesh, our first goal was to reach the semis because we could not do that in the last edition. As that has now been achieved, our eyes are set on the final,鈥� she said.
鈥楾he whole team completed a very good practice session today. I will say that such a session ahead of such an important game is a good sign. Everyone is fit and available for selection.鈥�
Bangladesh can hope that their batting order continues their form from recent matches as Murshida Khatun hit back-to-back fifties, while Joty scored an unbeaten 48 in the first game and an unbeaten 62 in the third.
Their point of concern might be the bowling attack as they are yet to bowl an opponent out in the tournament and the task will only get tougher against India.