Bangladesh women reach Asian Games semi

Bangladesh Women Cricket team reached the semifinal of the Asian Games despite not a single ball being bowled in their quarter final match against Hong Kong at the Pingfeng Campus Cricket Field, Hangzhou, China on Friday. 

Bangladesh, who played in the quarter-final round directly, clinched the semi berth thanks to their higher ranking position and will face India on Sunday.

India also qualified in the same route as their quarter-final match against Malaysia was abandoned without a result. 

The recent history between the teams makes the semifinal match interesting. Bangladesh hosted India in a three-match ODI series earlier this year and shared the rubber with one win each and a tie.

However, the heat was augmented as Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur hurled abusive words to umpires and Bangladeshi players. Her controversial comments rocked the cricketing world.

Sri Lanka and Pakistan, who have beaten Thailand and Indonesia, will lock horns in the other semifinal.

Both women’s and men’s cricket returned to Asian Games after the gap of an edition. Both the events are held in T20 format. The final of the women‘s event will take place on September 26 while the men’s event will start from the following day.

This is the third time cricket is included in Asian Games. Bangladesh fetched medals in each of the previous editions. Bangladesh men’s team clinched the only Asian Games gold in the history of the country back in 2010 at Guangzhou. Women team won silver in that edition.

Men could win a mere bronze at Incheon in 2014 but the women’s team was able to retain their silver.