Bangladesh booked their place in the semi-final of the Women’s T20 Asia Cup with a 34-run win over UAE in a low-scoring encounter in Dubai. Sharmin Akhter‘s composed 38 helped Bangladesh recover from 55 for 6. Then, Marufa Akter‘s spell with the new ball and a disciplined bowling effort from the spinners kept UAE under pressure throughout the small chase of 104.

Bangladesh will now meet India on Thursday in the first semi-final.

Kotte’s dream spell

Suraksha Kotte led the UAE bowling attack, taking three wickets for 11 runs, to keep Bangladesh quiet. The offspinner’s plan was simple – give the ball plenty of flight and bowl it away from the batters – and Bangladesh seemed to fall into the trap of trying to overhit her. She removed Dilara Akter, who slapped a flighted delivery straight to Esha Oza at cover in the first over. With another similar delivery, Sobhana Mostary failed to get under the ball and sliced it to mid-off in the third over.

Kotte’s spell kept Bangladesh in check as she finished her three powerplay overs for just seven runs. When she returned in the 11th over, with Nigar Sultana slowly trying to rebuild Bangladesh’s innings, Kotte once again made the breakthrough, bowling a low full toss around off and taking a good low catch to dismiss the Bangladesh captain. Sixteen of her 24 deliveries were dots.

Sharmin leads Bangladesh’s recovery

This was Sharmin’s first match of this Asia Cup after replacing Ritu Moni in the XI. She came in with Bangladesh 37 for 3 and, after Sultana’s dismissal for 23, watched them slip to 55 for 6. But Sharmin drew on her 15 years of international experience to play a calculated knock and lift Bangladesh to a competitive total.

She took her time to assess the pitch, reaching 13 off 13 before accelerating after the 13th over. A cover drive off Indhuja Nandakumar sparked the change in tempo, and she followed it with back-to-back boundaries off Oza, combining with Nahida Akter for a crucial 42-run seventh-wicket stand that revived Bangladesh’s innings.

Marufa, spinners keep UAE in check

Marufa’s swing made life difficult for UAE from the outset. She needed just four balls to remove the UAE captain Oza with an inswinger, then dismissed one-down Samaira Dharnidharka with a cross-seam delivery that took the outside edge through to the wicketkeeper. Her three overs cost just six runs, leaving UAE 15 for 2 at the end of the powerplay. Then Marufa returned in the ninth over to finish with impressive figures of 4-0-9-2.

At the other end, Sultana Khatun kept a lid on UAE and applied the squeeze with her offspin. UAE moved to 34 for 3 after ten overs, but Theertha Sathish’s dismissal in the next over put Bangladesh firmly in control. Nahida, who scored a key 16, then struck twice to pile on the pressure, while Rabeya Khan chipped in with three wickets. UAE struggled to accelerate – they finished with 70 dot balls – and could only muster 69 for 9.

Bangladesh bowlers, who dominated the innings throughout, had a shared wicket celebration, putting one finger to their lips while raising the other hand in the air.