India Women meet Bangladesh in Dubai with an unbeaten record to protect

Three wins from three and a bowling attack that dismissed Pakistan for 55 have carried Harmanpreet Kaur's side to the last four without a scare

India play Bangladesh in the first semi-final of the Women's Asia Cup at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Thursday, having come through Group A with a perfect record.

Bangladesh took the last qualifying place by beating the United Arab Emirates by 34 runs, a result that ended the hosts' campaign.

The second semi-final, between Sri Lanka and Pakistan, follows on Friday at the same ground.

How India got here

Harmanpreet Kaur's side beat Thailand, Hong Kong and Pakistan to top the group, and the manner of the last of those was the statement of the tournament: Pakistan were bowled out for 55 and the chase was completed with seven wickets standing.

Harmanpreet finished it herself, taking a four and a six off successive deliveries in the match that made her the first cricketer to captain a national side in 150 T20 internationals.

Shafali Verma has been the other constant, becoming the youngest and fastest player to 3,000 runs in women's T20 internationals during the group stage.

The bowling has been the more impressive half. Nashra Sandhu's six-wicket haul for Pakistan later in the group stage was the only spell by any bowler to match what India's attack managed against the same opposition.

Bangladesh arrive the hard way

Bangladesh needed a win in their final group match and got one, seeing off the UAE by 34 runs to finish second in Group B behind an unbeaten Sri Lanka.

They come into the semi-final having played a knockout already, which is not nothing at a tournament where India have not been genuinely tested.

Whether that counts as momentum or as fatigue is the sort of question a semi-final answers rather than poses.

Bangladesh have also met India often enough in this competition to know the shape of the problem. Familiarity has not historically produced results for them, but it removes the element of surprise.

The matchup

India's advantage is depth in both departments. Their spinners have taken wickets in clusters throughout the group stage, and the batting has not needed to bat forty overs in a single match.

Bangladesh's route is the one every side takes against a favourite in a T20 knockout: bowl first if the toss allows, keep the powerplay quiet, and make the chase a question rather than a formality.

Dubai has held up well across the tournament, and neither side should expect the surface to do the work for them.

A knockout also flattens the gap that a group stage exposes. India were the better side in every match they played; they need to be the better side for one more evening.

What is at stake

India have reached the final of this competition repeatedly without always converting, and a tournament in which they have looked this far ahead of the field raises the cost of losing a one-off match.

Smriti Mandhana and the top order have had little sustained batting practice precisely because the group stage was so one-sided, which is the one soft spot in an otherwise complete campaign.

The winners of Thursday's match play the winners of Friday's in the final, with the two unbeaten sides in the tournament, India and Sri Lanka, kept apart until then.

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