ISLAMABAD: Defending champions India thrashed Bangladesh 5-1 to qualify for the SAFF Women’s Championship semi-finals here at the Jinnah Stadium on Saturday.

Nepal and Sri Lanka have already booked their places in the semi-finals.

In the day’s second match, the Maldives edged out Afghanistan 1-0.

Now, Monday’s match between the Maldives and Bangladesh will decide the last team for the semi-finals phase.

In the first match played on Sat­urday, the inexperienced Bangla­desh outfit somehow managed to resist India only during the first half.

While both teams displayed quality game in the first half, Indian striker Umapati Devi in the final minutes managed to give her team 1-0 lead.

In the second half, Indian forwards dominated the game as Bangladesh women were simply outplayed.

Mandakani Devi scored her team’s second goal in the 48th minute, Bala Devi’s strike in the 57th made it 3-0 before Indumati netted a goal in the 76th to put India into supreme position.

Bangladesh through Sabina Khatoon scored a consolation goal in the 84th minute before Bala Devi claimed her second goal in the 86th to seal a resounding 5-1 win for India and a well-deserved place in the last-four stage of the regional championship.

Earlier in the day, the Maldives defeated Afghanistan 1-0 with the goal coming from striker Maryiyam Rifa in the 28th minute.

Sunday’s fixtures:

Nepal vs Sri Lanka (11:00am)

Pakistan vs Bhutan (2:30pm).

Published in Dawn, November 16th , 2014