Salma Khatun-led Bangladesh squad stunned Indian team by three wickets to claim their maiden Women’s Asia Cup title on Sunday at the Kinrara Academy Oval, Kuala Lumpur.

On Sunday morning, after winning the toss, Khatun opted to bowl first and executed her plan well by restricting India to the mediocre target of 112 runs.

Following the target of 112 runs, Bangladesh women chased it down and in the process wrote history by becoming first ever side to win the Asia Cup other than India.

Shamima Sultana (16 balls 19 runs) and Ayasha Rahman (17 runs 23 balls) opened Bangladesh innings and gave them a decent start. The duo added 35 runs for the first wicket before Ayasha Rahman was removed by Poonam Yadav.

From Indian camp, Poonam Yadav was the most dominant bowler, she took four wickets and gave away only 9 runs. After Rehman, Fargana Hoque (11 runs off 17 balls), Shamima Sultana and Nigar Sultana were also bowled out by Poonam Yadav.

Nigar Sultana played a cameo of 27 runs off 24 balls and snatched the game away from India. During her innings, Sultana struck four boundaries. After, Sultana’s departure, Rumana Ahmed added two small partnerships with Fahima Khatun and Sanjida Islam and guided her side to victory.

Earlier, in the day, Smriti Mandhana (7 runs off 12 balls) along with Mithali Raj (11 runs off 18 balls) opened the Indian innings, however, the duo failed to give India a decent start. In the fourth over of the game, Smriti Mandhana was sent back to the stands following a run-out.

Following Mandhana’s departure, Deepti Sharma (4 runs off 11 balls) joined Mithali at the crease but she too gifted her wicket to Jahanara Alam, and soon Raj was bowled out by Khadija Tul Kubra.

After Mithali’s departure, India continued to lose wickets on a regular interval and other than skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, no other India batter was able to counter Bangladesh’s Bowling attack.

Meanwhile, wicket-keeper batswoman Taniya Bhatia (3 runs off 6 balls) and T20 specialist Anuja Patil (3 runs off 4 balls) failed to impress. And explosive batswoman Veda Krishnamurthy (11 runs off 10 balls) once again failed in taking responsibility with the bat as Harmanpreet Kaur fought a lone battle.

Harmanpreet Kaur scored 56 runs off 42 balls and struck 7 boundaries in her innings.

From Bangladesh, Khadija Tul Kubra and Rumana Ahmed bagged two wickets. Salma Khatun and Jahanara Alam took one wicket each.

Fall of Wickets:

India: 12-1 (Smriti Mandhana, 3.1), 26-2 (Deepti Sharma, 6.4), 28-3 (Mithali Raj, 7.1), 32-4 (Anuja Patil, 8.2), 62-5 (Veda Krishnamurthy, 12.3), 72-6 (Taniya Bhatia, 14.2), 74-7 (Shikha Pandey, 14.6), 107-8 (Jhulan Goswami, 19.1), 112-9 (Harmanpreet Kaur, 19.6)

Bangladesh: 35-1 (Ayasha Rahman, 6.5), 35-2 (Shamima Sultana, 6.6), 55-3 (Fargana Hoque, 11.4), 83-4 (Nigar Sultana, 15.2), 96-5 (Fahima Khatun, 17.3)

Bangladesh Women (Playing XI):Shamima Sultana (wk), Ayasha Rahman, Fargana Hoque, Sanjida Islam, Fahima Khatun, Jahanara Alam, Nigar Sultana, Rumana Ahmed, Salma Khatun (c), Khadija Tul Kubra, Nahida Akter

India Women (Playing XI): Mithali Raj, Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Deepti Sharma, Veda Krishnamurthy, Anuja Patil, Jhulan Goswami, Taniya Bhatia (wk), Ekta Bisht, Shikha Pandey, Poonam Yadav