India continued their unbeaten run and marched into their sixth final in six editions of the Women’s T20 Asia Cup after beating Bangladesh by 40 runs in an error laden semi final in Dubai.

After India were put in on a slow pitch, Shafali Verma scored 64 off 40 balls, making full use of the reprieves she got on 6, 11, 50 and 56. The knock helped India post a formidable 149 for 6 even though most other batters struggled for timing.

Juairiya Ferdous and Dilara Akter came out with positive intent but once the spin was introduced, they too felt powerless. India helped them by dropping four catches of varying difficulty, but Bangladesh did not have someone like Shafali to take advantage of those. In the end, they could reach only 109 for 7.

Shafali lives a charmed life

Marufa Akter was impressive once again with the new ball. Apart from her stock in-swinger to the right-hand batter, she also showed off her leg-cutter, which beat Shafali’s outside edge a couple of times.

Opening the bowling from the other end, off-spinner Sultana Khatun produced two chances in her very first over. Fahima Khatun dropped Shafali at long-on but Smriti Mandhana was not that fortunate. Shorna Akter caught her miscued aerial attempt at mid-on.

Shafali got another reprieve in the third over when Nahida Akter failed to latch on to a low chance at mid-on off Marufa. The batter rubbed salt into Bangladesh’s wounds by launching Sultana over long-off for back-to-back sixes in the following over. Despite Pratika Rawal struggling at the other end, Shafali’s fireworks ensured India finished the powerplay on 45 for 1.

Rawal and Harmanpreet’s toil

Rawal had opened her account with a classical off-drive for four off the first ball. She also launched Rabeya Khan for a six in the last over of the powerplay. But she struggled to rotate strike and could manage only 20 off 24 balls in the end.

Harmanpreet Kaur, too, found it difficult to get going. At one point, she was on 3 off 15 balls. As a result, India could score only 33 runs in seven overs after the powerplay.

Shafali continues to ride her luck

Shafali reached her fifty off 35 balls and then enjoyed some more luck. On the very next ball, she had a miscommunication with Harmanpreet. It should have been an easy run-out at the bowler’s end but Fahima fumbled the throw.

Shafali then pulled Sultana over deep midwicket for a six. She tried to repeat the dose on the next ball but Shorna dropped the catch. The ball burst through her hands, hit her on the face and trickled to the deep-midwicket boundary. However, she holed out to long-on in the same over, with substitute Farjana Easmin taking the catch.

Richa Ghosh (21 off 16) and Deepti Sharma (13 off six) injected some momentum towards the end while Harmanpreet finished on 24 not out off 28.

Ferdous and Dilara gave Bangladesh a steady start, with both batters hitting two boundaries each in the first three overs. But there were plenty of dot balls too, which meant the scoreboard read only 18 for no loss after three overs.

After that, Harmanpreet introduced spin from both ends and the scoring rate dropped further. Bowling the last over of the powerplay, N Sjhree Charani delivered a wicket maiden, making Ferdous her 50th T20I wicket.

Deepti does Deepti things

Deepti struck in her very first over. With the asking rate climbing fast, Ferdous tried to go aerial but holed out to deep midwicket. Nigar Sultana and Sobhana Mostary added 31 for the third wicket but consumed 34 balls for it.

Deepti ended the stand by castling Mostary. That triggered a mini-collapse with Bangladesh losing three wickets in 15 balls for 17 runs. Prema Rawat had Nigar caught at short third before Deepti bowled Sharmin Akhter to make it 83 for 5 in the 16th over.

India’s fielding woes

The result was all but sealed by then. But India, too, were sub-par in the field, right from the start. In the very first over of the chase, Rawal had dropped an overhead catch at cover-point to reprieve Dilara. Later on, she dropped Mostary at backward point. Mandhana misjudged a boundary catch as well, before Ghosh and Nandani Sharma collided while going for one near square leg. On another day, these mistakes could have proved costly.

Scores:
India Women 149 for 6 in 20 overs (Shafali Verma 64, Pratika Rawal 20, Harmanpreet Kaur 24*, Richa Ghosh 21, Deepti Sharma 13; Marufa Akter 1-40, Sultana Khatun 2-30, Nahida Akter 1-25, Rabeya Khan 1-22) beat Bangladesh 109 for 7 in 20 overs (Dilara Akter 21, Juairiya Ferdous 14, Sobhana Mostary 18, Nigar Sultana 19, Shorna Akter 22*,  Fahima Khatun 14; Nandani Sharma 2-10, Shree Charani 1-14, Prema Rawat 1-21, Deepti  Sharma3-26) by 40 runs

[Cricinfo]

Holy Family Convent produced an impressive performance at the 4th Hiru Relay Championship 2026, with their Under-12 girls’ 4×100 metres relay team clinching the gold medal while establishing a new meet record.

The championship, held at the Diyagama Stadium on August 2 and 3, saw the HFC quartet race to victory in an impressive 56.94 seconds.

The successful squad comprised Fiona Botheju, Shenumi Fernando, Saasha Perera, Nicola Garninghe, Divinita Joel and Finoli Botheju.

The athletes were guided by HFC Athletic Head Coach Roy Samantha, Primary School Athletic Coach Thushara Fernando and Assistant Athletic Coach Ms. Lalana Iranganie.

Also supporting the team were Sports Coordinator Shavini Silva and Sports Teacher Indika Wijesekara, while the school administration was represented by Principal Rev. Sr. Charitha Thandalge and Primary School Principal Rev. Sr. Celina de Silva.

By Rex Clementine

The axe is set to fall on Test captain Dhananjaya de Silva following his uninspiring leadership during Sri Lanka’s 1-0 series defeat to India at home last month.

Sri Lanka’s next assignment in the World Test Championship is a two-Test series in Pakistan and The Island learns that Dhananjaya is unlikely to lead the side. More significantly, he could even find himself fighting to retain his place in the XI.

Although Dhananjaya served as Dimuth Karunaratne’s deputy for a couple of years, there was always a feeling that when Dimuth’s long tenure as Test captain ended (2019-2024), Dhananjaya inherited the job largely by default rather than through a carefully planned succession.

For too long, Sri Lanka’s selectors had stopped grooming future captains. Leadership was handed down largely on seniority, leaving precious little opportunity to identify and develop the next generation of leaders.

Dhananjaya’s tenure has done little to silence those concerns. Off the field, he has often appeared aloof and laid back; on it, he has struggled to stamp his authority, too often allowing games to drift rather than forcing the issue.

His tactics during the two Tests against India came under particular scrutiny. Sri Lanka went defensive with the ball far too early on several occasions, surrendering the initiative instead of attempting to wrest it back.

Admittedly, Dhananjaya does not possess an arsenal that allows him to call the shots like an Ian Chappell or Clive Lloyd. But captains such as Arjuna Ranatunga and Sourav Ganguly showed that limited resources need not prevent a leader from imposing himself on a contest.

Those are admittedly enormous boots to fill, but at the very least Dhananjaya was expected to be more assertive.

The Island learns that the selectors contemplated a change midway through the India series but were persuaded against it by Head Coach Gary Kirsten. What appears increasingly clear, however, is that Dhananjaya’s days as captain are numbered and the selectors may not wait until the end of the current World Test Championship cycle to pull the trigger.

Chief Selector Kapila Wijegunawardene was asked at Wednesday’s media briefing about Dhananjaya’s defensive captaincy, but played a straight bat, saying it was too early to comment. Behind closed doors, however, the former Sri Lanka seamer is understood to favour a change.

That leaves the selectors with an awkward question of their own: who takes over?

Having failed to groom a successor, they are now searching for someone to assume the reins immediately, a problem that should have been addressed long before the captaincy reached this crossroads.

White ball captain Kusal Mendis is one of the front runners, along with Kamindu Mendis, although the latter was recently stripped of the vice-captaincy after being appointed deputy across all three formats in June.

There are understood to be concerns among the authorities over Kamindu’s attitude, with his removal from the vice-captaincy intended to send a clear message that no player is indispensable.

Charith Asalanka is another name in the frame, although he has not played a Test in more than four years and at present, would struggle to command a place in the side. A productive limited overs series in England, however, could strengthen his case considerably.

Then there is the intriguing fourth option Sonal Dinusha.

Young and relatively raw at international level, Dinusha has captained CCC with considerable success over the past couple of years and is understood to possess many of the leadership qualities the selectors are searching for.

A keen student of the game, Dinusha’s cricketing nous and the qualities he has brought to the dressing room have impressed the team management. The selectors may decide that handing him the reins now is a gamble too, but his name being seriously discussed is itself significant.

Should they take the plunge, Dinusha could become the second youngest Sri Lankan to captain the Test side after Angelo Mathews.