Tamim Iqbal and Co in awe after Bangladesh women’s team clinched the maiden Asia Cup title

Bangladesh Women stormed to their maiden Asia Cup title.

Published - 10 Jun 2018, 15:23 IST | Updated - 10 Jun 2018, 15:23 IST

2 Min Read

The Women’s Asia Cup in Malaysia came to a close. The Final was played between India and Bangladesh in Kuala Lumpur and the match turned out to be a cliffhanger. The contest wasn’t a high scoring one by any stretch of the imagination, but it kept the players and the audience at the edge of their seats. In the end, it was it was Salma Khatun’s troops who won the match by three wickets.

Moreover, Bangladesh became the Asia Cup champions for the maiden time. Prior to the event, they were deemed to be the underdogs with the likes of India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka participating in the event. They started with a dismal performance versus the Lankans. Nevertheless, they didn’t let the defeat unnerve them and won four matches on the trot to qualify for the Finals.

Bangladesh rise to the occasion

In the Grand Finale, they were up against Harmanpreet Kaur’s women who had previously won the Asia Cup as many as six times. Quite expectantly, India were the clear favourites. Khatun won the toss and elected to field first and the decision paid dividends. They reduced India to 74/7 in the 15th over and took them by the scruff of the neck.

Harmanpreet wasn’t ready to drop the gun and notched a gutsy and effective knock of 56 runs from 42 balls. Most importantly, the knock guided India past the 100 run-mark. During their run chase of 113 runs, Bangladesh threatened to take the match away but lost wickets at regular intervals. Most of their batsmen got into double figures and couldn’t carry on from there onwards.

Leg-spinner Poonam Yadav churned out an inspiring spell of 4-0-9-4 to keep their opponents at bay. In the last over, Bangladesh needed nine runs and Rumana Ahmed spooned Deepti Sharma over the covers to pick up a boundary, but a lazy bit of work led to her run out. However, Jahanara Alam nudged the ball on the leg side to scamper two runs in the last ball and helped Bangladesh to their maiden Asia Cup title.

Meanwhile, the entire men’s team watched the match live and they erupted in joy following the jaw-dropping show by the women’s contingent. Following their victory, Tamim Iqbal, the men’s opening batsman, posted a video and expressed his jubilation.