Renuka Singh Thakur's spell takes India to their ninth Asia Cup final

Renuka Singh Thakur was the star of the show for India in the first semifinal of the 2024 Women's Asia Cup on Friday (July 26). The seamer's seamless bowling display helped her side cruise into the finals after a one-sided contest against Bangladesh.

Team India made three changes after a thumping victory over Nepal in their final group stage contest. Harmanpreet Kaur returned to the side in place of Sajana Sajeevan. Pooja Vastrakar replaced Arundhati Reddy, while Dayalan Hemalatha was dropped for Uma Chetry. Meanwhile, Marufa Akter was included in Bangladesh's playing 11 instead of Sabikun Jesmin. 

Nigar Sultana Joty won the toss and opted to bat first. But Bangladesh struggled against the Indian bowling lineup from the beginning. Renuka struck in the very first over, removing Dilara Akter right after getting dispatched for six. Her spell got even better when she picked her second wicket in her next over by getting Ishma Tanjim out. Murshida Khatun was Renuka's third victim in the powerplay and 50th T20I wicket. She became the fifth fastest Indian woman to reach the milestone after Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Ekta Bisht, Poonam Yadav and Radha Yadav.

Bangladesh were completely put on the back foot by India as pressure continued to mount on the upcoming ICC Women's T20 World Cup hosts. Joty struggled to accelerate the score for her side, accumulating too many dots. This is a familiar problem for Bangladesh as they faced the same in the T20I series against India back in May 2024. 

More trouble befell Bangladesh as Radha added to their woes. Rumana Ahmed was clean bowled at the hands of the left-arm spinner. Rabeya Khan was the next to depart, thanks to Vastrakar, turning things from bad to worse. After a couple of quiet overs, Deepti Sharma opened her tally by sending Ritu Moni back to the dugout. 

Shorna Akter, who is known for her aggressive style of play, played with intent from the get-go. She was the only Bangladeshi batter alongside Dilara with a strike rate of over 100. But she didn't get to face a single delivery in the last over as Radha bowled a double wicket maiden, getting the better of the struggling Joty and Nahida. Bangladesh only managed to register 80 runs at the loss of nine wickets, giving Indian yet another easy target to chase.

Bangladeshi bowlers posed no problem to Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana. The former could've been dismissed for 21 runs, but Nahida dropped the chance at long-on. Mandhana also survived when she got caught in a soft dismissal at point but it turned out to be a massive overstepping by Jahanara Alam. India's winning streak continued as the opening pair comfortably chased the score in 11 overs without getting dismissed, with the vice-captain hitting her 25th half-century in T20I cricket. 

Brief scores: Bangladesh 80/8 in 20 overs (Nigar Sultana Joty 32; Renuka Singh Thakur 3/10, Radha Yadav 3/14) lost to India 83/0 in 11 overs (Smriti Mandhana 55*, Shafali Verma 26*) by 10 wickets. POTM: Renuka Singh Thakur