Bangladesh breezed past UAE in their virtual quarterfinal match in the Women’s T20 Asia Cup 2026 to book semifinal spot against India. The Nigar Sultana-led side beat UAE by a comfortable margin of 34 runs at Dubai International Cricket Stadium on September 8 to advance to the semifinals.
Bangladesh cross 100 after collapse
Winning the toss, UAE skipper Esha Oza opted to bowl first. Bangladesh got off to a poor start losing wickets of Dilara Akter and Sobhana Mostary. In the powerplay overs, they managed just 21 runs. The partnership between Nigar and Juairiya Ferdous was broken by Archara Supriya in the ninth over. Juairiya scored 16 runs from 20 balls. In the 11th over, Nigar became Suraksha Kotte's third victim of the evening. It was followed by Indhuja Nandakumar dismissing Shorna Akter and Fahima Khatun off consecutive balls for golden ducks. Bangladesh lost six wickets for 55 runs.
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Sharmin Akhter did the bulk of scoring while Nahida Akter faced too many dot balls. In the penultimate over, Sharmin departed for a 31-ball 38. Nahida remained unbeaten for 16 off 26 balls, helping Bangladesh post 103/7.
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UAE’s run chase never took off
In the run chase, skipper UAE captain Esa got bowled for a single-digit score by Marufa. She also dismissed Samaira Dharnidharka who scored just eight runs from 19 balls. UAE were 15/2 after powerplay overs. The dot ball pressure got to UAE batters. Rinitha Rajith fell to Rabeya Khan for just five runs from 12 balls. Sultana Khatun finished her economical spell with Theertha Satish's wicket. Theertha managed to score 11 runs from 24 deliveries. Then, Nahida joined the party with Lavanya Keny's wicket. UAE lost half the side for 38 in 12.1 overs.
Nahida struck again, dismissing Janani Thirukkumaran in the 15th over. Heena Hotchandani top-scored for UAE with 18 runs from 19 balls. Rabeya ended her stay at the crease. Rabeya also got the wicket of Indhuja. In her final over, Fahima got Suraksha's wicket. Only two runs came off the final over. UAE managed to score 69/9, losing the match by 34 runs.
Asia Cup semifinals schedule
In the first semifinal, Harmanrpeet Kaur-led India will go up against Bangladesh on September 10. The second semifinal will be played between Sri Lanka and Pakistan on September 11.