Good morning, welcome to Sportstar 's live blog of the Women's Asia Cup final.
Bangladesh innings
2:42 PM: Last ball drama, and Bangladesh steals two singles. What a nail-biting finish! Bangladesh beats India by three wickets to clinch maiden Asia Cup title. Jahanara Alam remains unbeaten on two.
2:39 PM: WICKET! Jahanara departs for a duck; brilliant take by Harmanpreet to dislodge the stumps.
2:38 PM: WICKET! Sanjida (5) finds Veda Krishmanurthy at deep; Bangladesh needs four in three.
2:37 PM: FOUR! Beautiful drive by Rumana; Bangladesh needs four in four.
2:35 PM: Harmanpreet is going to bowl the last over, Bangladesh needs nine off six.
2:30 PM: Bangladesh reaches the three-figure mark; 101-5.
2:28 PM: STUMPED! Fahima (9) steps out and misses. Sharma makes no mistake to dislodge the stumps. Bangladesh now requires 17 off 15 balls.
2:27 PM: Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur decides to roll an arm. Good decision to come in as the change bowler at this time. But her first delivery races away to the boundary above the 'keeper's head.
2:21 PM: WICKET! Another bizarre dismissal of the day. It was a full-toss at waist height, but the batswoman came down the track. She didn't let the ball land and whacked it to Deepti Sharma. A brilliant innings of 27 off 24 comes to an end. Poonam bags her fourth; Bangladesh 85-4.
2:16 PM: That's the third boundary of the 15th over; Bangladesh needs 31 off 30.
2:14 PM: That's valuable four runs for Bangladesh. Nigar, batting on 23, has decided to take on Goswami. She goes for another boundary to bridge the ball-run gap. Bangladesh now requires 35 off 32.
2:05 PM: Bangladesh needs 52 off 41 now.
1:59 PM: WICKET! And that's the third for Poonam Yadav. Fargana has to depart for 11 (17). It was a brilliant take by wicketkeeper Sharma; Bangladesh 55-3.
1:54 PM: Bangladesh brings up 50 runs; after 11 overs, 54-2; 59 off 54 needed for a win.
1:45 PM: She misses the hat-trick but these were two crucial wickets for India. After nine overs, Bangaldesh 44-2.
1:41 PM: WICKET! Poonam is on a hat-trick! Shamima Sultana goes for 16 (19), caught by Mithali; Bangladesh 35-2 (7)
1:40 PM: WICKET! Ayasha Rahman departs for 17 (23); caught by Goswami off Poonam Yadav. Bangladesh 35-1 (6.5)
1:37 PM: Bangladesh is racing away here; 33 runs off the first six overs of PowerPlay. Ayasha batting on 16, Shamima on 15.
1:33 PM: Deepti is executing a few wrong 'uns brilliantly here. Oh! Edged and goes past the 'keeper for four runs. Ayasha is lucky. After five overs, Bangladesh 24-0.
1:26 PM: The Bangladesh openers, Shamima and Ayasha, do not seem to have any difficulty playing out the Indian spinners. There were a few cracks on the otherwise slow wicket in the first innings, but it's not assisting the spinners yet. After four overs, Bangladesh 17-1.
1:22 PM: 11 runs come off the second over, Bangladesh is 12/0 after two overs.
Shikha Pandey has picked an injury to her right ankle or to her knee in trying to stop a straight drive from Ayasha. She has gone off the field for now and the over will now be completed (two balls remain) by Deepti Sharma.
Shikha Pandey has the new ball in hand, as chant of 'India jeetega, India jeetega...' rings from the stands.
1:15 PM: Just a single comes off the first over.
Ekta Bisht has begun proceedings for India, Shamima and Ayasha are the openers for Bangaldesh, which needs 113 runs to stop India from continuing its Asia Cup monopoly!
India innings: 112-9
1:03 PM: OUT! Kaur goes for the big one but ends up finding the fielder in the last ball of the 20th over. She anchored the Indian innings with a fighting 56 off 42 balls.
12:59 PM: OUT! Goswami's resistance is broken; she is run out for 10 (12).
12:56 PM: Kaur brings up her half-century with another boundary; India 107-7 (19).
12:55 PM: Kaur sweeps Khatun for four runs to bring up 100 for India.
12:50 PM: The poor calling continues; Harmanpreet was almost run out there but the Bangladesh wicketkeeper failed to collect the throw; India 97-7 (18).
12:44 PM: Jhulan Goswami's experience is coming into play here. She goes for an uppish drive to steal four important runs. Kaur has moved to 35 off 29 balls.
12:38 PM: WICKET! Shikha Pandey (1) is out, caught behind, to Rumana Ahmed; India 74-7 (15)
12:35 PM: WICKET! Tanya Bhatia is stumped for 3 (6). She stepped out to charge Rumana Ahmed, but missed the line of the delivery; India 72-6 (14.2)
12:28 PM: OUT! Salma Khatun cleans up Veda for 11 (10). The batswoman went for a sweep on a fuller delivery and paid the price; India 62-5 (13).
12:26 PM: Runs are now coming a little easier than before for India. Veda has moved to 11 off 9 balls and Kaur is on a run-a-ball 18.
12:20 PM: Veda Krishnamurthy is getting her act together. The strokeplayer is looking for the big ones. She starts with a four.
12:15 PM: Kaur finds a boundary to ease the tension. A welcome boundary for India. After nine overs, India 37-4.
12:10 PM: BIZARRE! This is one rare dismissal. Kaur looked for a single, Anuja Patil started for it but she returned spotting the fielder. The batswoman changed directions while making her ground. The Bangladesh fielders appeal for an 'obstructing the field' dismissal. Third umpire says it's out.
12:05 PM: India is staring at a collapse here at 32-3.
12:02 PM: BIG WICKET! Mithali is out. She falls to spinner Khadija, caught by Fargana Hoque for 11.
11:59 AM: Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur is out in the middle; if India is to win this final, this partnership needs to get going. Mithali looks settled at 10 off 16 and she can change gears any moment.
11:56 AM: OUT! Deepti Sharma 4(11) is cleaned up by Jahanara. She was undecided about the shot till the last moment and the error in judgement cost her the wicket. India 26-2.
11:50 AM: In five overs, India is reeling at 17-1; a run rate it wouldn't be very proud of at the moment. The Bangladesh spinners are sticking to basics, keeping it simple and choking runs.
11:47 AM: A very good crowd has turned up at the Kinrara Academy Oval, both Indian and Bangladeshi cricket fans egging their teams on.
11:45 AM: India moves to one for 13 after four overs, the left-handed Deepti Sharma is the new batter in, replacing Smriti Mandhana. Mithali Raj holds the key for India.
11:40 AM: OUT! Mandhana's poor run in the Asia Cup continues, as she fails to make ground while stealing a two. She goes for 7 (run out: Shamima Sultana).
After the first three overs, India 9-0
11:38 AM: MISSED CHANCE! Mandhana was outside her crease but the wicketkeeper fumbles.
11:36 AM: India finds its first boundary; it was a slower, pitched wide off. Mandhana goes inside out and slices the ball. The fielder pulls the ball back in but her feet touched the ropes.
11:34 AM: Saima Khatun, right-arm off break, starts from the other end.
11:33 AM : Bangladesh starts off with a tight over from Nahida. The slow left-arm orthodox bowler pitched it on the right areas and kept Mithali Raj quiet. The veteran India opener danced down the pitch for a single and cut a couple of deliveries, but only two runs from the over.
Line-ups
India women: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Mithali Raj, Smriti Mandhana, Deepti Sharma, Veda Krishnamurthy, Anuja Patil, Jhulan Goswami, Taniya Bhatia (wk), Ekta Bisht, Shikha Pandey, Poonam Yadav
Bangladesh women: Shamima Sultana (wk), Ayasha Rahman, Fargana Hoque, Sanjida Islam, Fahima Khatun, Jahanara Alam, Nigar Sultana, Rumana Ahmed, Salma Khatun (c), Khadija Tul Kubra, Nahida Akter
Toss update: Bangladesh women has won the toss and put India in to bat.
Preview
The Indian women's cricket team takes on Bangladesh women in the final with a chance to win the Asia Cup for a seventh time. (No other team has managed to win this competition in its brief, six-year history.)
Bangladesh was the team that beat India in the round-robin stage! India has been the tournament favourite right throughout but Bangladesh sent a strong message with its seven-wicket win on Wednesday. And the final match-up couldn't have been any better than the tournament favourite taking on the only team that has beaten it enroute to the final.
The one pattern that's evident is Bangladesh and India have enjoyed chasing, albeit the teams batting first haven't always posted big scores. Having chased a target of 142 against India, Bangladesh might well opt to bat first if the toss goes its way. India has the bowling arsenal, however, to stifle Bangladesh whether it bowls first or second.
All said and done, this promises to be a fascinating battle to determine the winner of the seventh edition of the tournament.
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