Women's Asia Cup: Shefali Verma and Smriti Mandhana led India to the semi-finals with an emphatic win over Bangladesh

India sealed their spot in the semi-finals of a tournament which they have won 6 times with a clinical win over Bangladesh at Sylhet on October 8 (Saturday).

At least on paper, it was a match between the defending champions and a team that has made it second nature to be crowned champions of Asia.

It was also a repeat of the previous edition of the Asia Cup final, which saw Bangladesh become the first team aside from India to lift the trophy.

However, this wasn't a match that reeked of one team seeking revenge. Bangladesh, the hosts and defending champions, surrendered meekly to a side that, who was more robust, was pretty clearly vulnerable.

If there is anything the loss to Pakistan proved, it is that the Indian women's cricket team still has a few frailties within. The middle order is prone to a collapse, meaning good starts might not always be converted – and a bad start is almost disastrous.

It was a case of the former in this match. India opted to bat first after stand-in skipper Smriti Mandhana won the toss. And Smriti, alongside opening partner Shefali Verma, gave India a perfect start.

So good that India was 91-0 after the end of 10 overs. At that point, the Indians would have been confident of posting a score in the 200-run mark. Instead, they only posted 159-5 at the end of their 20 overs.

Some of that, to be fair, was down to Bangladesh bowling well – Rumana Ahmed was the star of the show, taking three key wickets even though she conceded 27 runs in her three overs.

But much of that was down to India's middle order – aside from Jemimah Rodrigues, who scored a terrific 35* – not stepping up to the plate again.

The good news for India was that the track at Sylhet was on the slow side, and chasing a target at a required run rate of 8 an over was never going to be easy.

And again, Bangladesh was partially at fault. The intent they played with was lacking, and they played out one too many dot balls – and, crucially, didn't find the boundary often enough.

The Indian bowlers did well to keep things simple and build pressure. By the time the innings reached the halfway mark, the asking rate was over 12.

Bangladesh tried to counterattack. Their captain, Nigar Sultana, began to play some attacking shots and scored a few boundaries.

But it seemed like a case of too little too late. And Bangladesh could only get to 100-7 by the time their 20 overs mercifully came to a close.

The win means India is through to the semis, regardless of whether or not they win their final group game against Thailand on Monday (October 10).