Asian Games 2023 Women's Cricket: Pooja Vastrakar's 4-Wicket Haul Floors Bangladesh As India Seal Final Spot

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Pooja Vastrakar's four-wicket haul blew away Bangladesh as India claimed an 8-wicket win to book their final spot in the women's cricket competition at the Asian Games 2023 in Hangzhou on Sunday (September 24).

After Vastrakar's 4 for 17 in 4 overs helped bundle out Bangladesh for a paltry 51, Jemimah Rodrigues (20 out off 15 balls) and Shafali Verma (17 off 21 balls) sealed an easy win for India with 11.4 overs to spare at the Zhejiang University of Technology Pingfeng Cricket Field.

Having assured themselves of a medal, India face Sri Lanka in the gold medal match, while Bangladesh will still have a chance to end the tournament on a high with a bronze when they face Pakistan on Monday (September 25).

India stumbled twice while chasing the paltry score of 51. Openers Smriti Mandhana (7) and Shafali Verma (17) fell victims to pacer Marufa Akter and spinner Fahima Khatun respectively.

Earlier in the innings, Vastrakar spearheaded India's bowling attack with her four-wicket haul to make short work of Bangladesh's batting set-up. She set the tone of the game by dismissing openers Shathi Rani and Shamima Sultana for a duck each.

Sobhana Mostary soon followed the footsteps towards that led to dugout with a score of 8. Skipper Nigar Sultana was the only batter to cross double digit mark with her score of 12. She was remove from the field by Devika Vaidya following a runout.

Ritu Moni (8), Fahima Khatun (0), Rabeya Khan (3), Nahida Akter (9*), Sultana Khatun (3) and Marufa Akter (0) combined togther to put a total of 23 runs on the board and take Bangladesh's total to 51.

The Indian eves, who will welcome back skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, start as favourites for Gold on Monday (September 25) when they face Sri Lanka, who beat Pakistan in the other semifinal.