Harmanpreet Kaur hails all-round display as India await their Women's Asia Cup final opponent

India's captain was content with a balanced semi-final performance in Dubai that carried her unbeaten side to within one win of the Women's Asia Cup title

Harmanpreet Kaur said she was happy with the shape of India's cricket after her side beat Bangladesh Women by 40 runs in the first semi-final of the Women's Asia Cup 2026 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Thursday.

India made 149 for 6 after Bangladesh won the toss and chose to bowl, then held the chase to 109 for 7. It was a fourth win from four matches in the tournament.

"Happy the way things are going. Happy with the way our batting and bowling is going," Harmanpreet said afterwards. The winner of Friday's second semi-final between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, also in Dubai, meets India in the final on Sunday, 13 September.

Runs shared around on a slow surface

Shafali Verma gave the innings its shape with 64 from 40 balls, an innings that included three sixes, and was named player of the match.

She was the only India batter to pass fifty on a pitch that offered the bowlers grip through the middle overs.

Pratika Rawal made 20 from 24 balls at the top, Richa Ghosh contributed in the closing overs, and Deepti Sharma struck 13 from 5 balls at the end of the innings to lift the total towards 150.

"The small partnerships matter, especially on a pitch like this," Harmanpreet said of a total that never looked commanding but proved comfortably beyond Bangladesh.

Deepti Sharma goes top of the wicket charts

Deepti Sharma returned 3-26 from her four overs and now leads this edition of the tournament with eleven wickets at an average of 3.63.

Prema Rawat removed the Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana, Shree Charani took 1-14, and Nandani Sharma struck with each of the final two balls of the innings as the chase ran out of batting.

"Deepti was excellent with the ball and got us a few breakthroughs," Harmanpreet said.

Shafali Verma on batting through the humidity

Conditions in Dubai were heavy, and Shafali said the discomfort was part of the job. "Very humid out there. Sometimes I can't even breathe, but I had to relax," she said.

She was clear about her brief at the top of the order. "I know it's my job to hit sixes and fours in the powerplay - so trying to do that," she said.

Bangladesh rue a night in the field

Nigar Sultana put the defeat down to a drop in standards rather than a shortage of chances. "We didn't bowl well, unlike the other last three games. We fielded well in other games, not today; we put down chances," she said.

Her side were also unable to build a platform in reply. "We really wanted to restrict them to a total we could chase; our batting powerplay was not good too," she said.

Bangladesh had reached the semi-finals as runners-up in Group B, with two wins from three.

Pakistan and Sri Lanka play for the other final place

The second semi-final starts at 8pm IST on Friday at the same ground. Sri Lanka topped Group B with three wins from three, while Pakistan finished second in Group A behind India.

India have already beaten Pakistan once here, bowling them out for 55 before winning by seven wickets on 5 September. They also beat Hong Kong by 137 runs and Thailand by 94 runs in the group stage.

Sri Lanka arrive as holders, having beaten India in the 2024 final in Dambulla for their first Asia Cup title.

India will learn their opponent late on Friday night, two days before the final in Dubai.

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