Nepal beat India in heated semi to set up final with Bangladesh

In a game that saw multiple on-field kerfuffles at the Dasharath Stadium in Kathmandu today, Nepal emerged victorious on penalties after a 1-1 draw in regulation time against five-time champions India to make it into the SAFF Women's Championship final in which the hosts will play Bangladesh.

Nepal won the semifinal 4-2 on penalties -- a game that was paused for around 67 minutes and lasted for almost three hours.

After a goalless first half, Rekha Poudel of Nepal was shown a second yellow for a contentious challenge made by India's Ranjana Chanu in the 50th minute. Poudel was seemingly caught by the Indian player when she tried to clear the ball in midfield.

However, to the discontentment of the hosts, referee Om Choki showed Poudel a second yellow and a red, leading to a protest from Nepal players and team management as the game was halted for a few minutes.

India broke the deadlock in the 70th minute through a long-range strike from Shangita Basfore. With all of India's players celebrating the goal on the sideline with their team management, Nepal equalised by sending the ball back into an empty net directly from the midfield following the resumption.

Even though it appeared that the referee had signalled for resumption, Nepal's goal was eventually disallowed as all the Indian players were still making it into the field, leading to another protest from the hosts. The game was then halted for over an hour as Nepal players walked off the field.

After the game resumed again, Nepal's Sabitra Bhandari put one past the Indian goalkeeper to level the score in the dying minutes and celebrated wildly in front of a raucous home crowd.

The scoreline stayed the same till full-time before Nepal won it on penalties, thanks to the two saves made by substitute goalkeeper Anjana Rana Magar.

In the final at the same venue on Wednesday, Nepal will face defending champions Bangladesh, who thrashed Bhutan 7-1 in the other semifinal earlier on the day.