Dhaka: A brilliant hat-trick by captain Sabina Khatun guided Bangladesh to the semifinal of the seven-nation SAFF Women’s Championship Football with one match to spare crushing Afghanistan by 6-0 goals in their first Group-B match at Kanchenjunga Stadium in Siliguri, India on Thursday evening.

This is the 3rd time that Bangladesh reached the semifinal of the women’s regional soccer meet since its inception in 2010. Bangladesh are likely to play Nepal in the semifinal on Monday (Jan 2).

Touring Bangladesh will play their remaining Group B match against hosts India, the champions of all three previous meets (2010, 2012 and 2014) on Saturday (Dec 31) at the same venue.

Bangladesh captain Sabina Khatun struck a hat-trick scoring five goals in the 6th, 15th, 40th, 44th and 48th minutes while Swapna netted the other goal for Bangladesh in the 82nd minute.