Finance
India defeated Nepal by 82 runs in the Women’s Asia Cup Group A match on Tuesday at Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium, advancing to the semi-final. India won the competition for the third time in a row and led their group by six points.
Following Shafali Verma’s furious innings, Indian spinners demonstrated their class over minnows Nepal, advancing to the tournament’s final stage.
Nepal were never in contention in the 179-run chase after Anurndhati Reddy dismissed opener Samjhana Khadka (7) in the second over. Sita Rana Magar and Kabita Kunwar attempted to steady the side in the Power Play, but Reddy dealt them another setback by dismissing Kunwar (6) in the fifth over.
However, Sita and captain Indu Barma showed some sign of fightback as the duo added 22 runs for the third-wicket partnership. The ray of hope didn’t last for Nepal as Radha Yadav broke the stand, leaving them reeling at 43/3 after 9.2 overs.
Sita’s stay in the middle didn’t last longer as she too was sent back to the pavilion by Reddy in the next over. Nepal lost their half of the side inside 11 overs with more than 120 runs to win.
Things turned from bad to worse for Nepal in the 14th over as they lost Rubina Chetry (15) and Kabita Joshi (0) in the span of three balls off Deepti Sharma. Nepal failed to recover in time and went on to lose wickets at regular intervals and finished their innings for 96/9 in 20 overs. For India, Deepti returned with the figures of 3-13 in her four overs while Reddy and Radha bagged two scalps each.
Earlier, Shafali Verma’s scintillating half-century (81 off 47 balls) coupled with Dayalan Hemalatha’s 47 powered India to 178/3 after opting to bat first.
Shafali and Hemalatha demonstrated no mercy from the start of the match. The 20-year-old made her intentions obvious by hitting two fours off Kabita Kumwar’s opening over. She continued to attack from one end, while Hemalatha held the other end strong.
Shafali ensured that boundaries came at regular intervals and showed no mercy to the Nepalese bowlers in the middle. Her aggressive batting propelled India to 50/0 at the end of the Power Play. Shafali flexed her arms and nailed Rubina Chhetry for a six off a full throw in the eighth over as she switched gears. She quickly reached her tenth T20I half-century from 26 balls in the eighth over.
The youngster didn’t look back and intensified her attack as Nepal looked clueless to break the partnership. However, they had a chance to send Hemalatha back to the pavilion in the 12th over but captain Indu Barma dropped the catch at long-off.
In the 14th over, Sita Rana Magar finally got hold of Hemalatha (47) as Rubina Chhetry made no mistake at long-on to give India the first blow of the match.
Shafali also got a respite in the next over before finally getting out on 81. She struck 12 fours and a six during her 48-ball knock.
Sajeevan Sajana and Jemimah Rodrigues came together for a brief 23-run partnership and steered the side to the 150-run mark. Sajana (10) failed to extend her stay in the middle as she was trapped lbw by Kabita Joshi in the 19th over.
In the end, Rodrigues showed her attacking skills with a quickfire 28 not out off 15 balls, including five fours, while Richa Gosh remained undefeated on six off three balls as India reached 178/3 in 20 overs. For Nepal, Sita Rana Magar took two wickets and finished with 2-25 in four overs.
India will meet the second-placed team from Group B in the semifinals on Friday.
Brief scores:
India 178/3 in 20 overs (Shafali Verma 81, Dayalan Hemalatha 47; Sita Rana Magar 2-25) beat Nepal 96/9 in 20 overs (Bindu Rawal 17*, Sita Rana Magar 18; Deepti Sharma 3-13, Radha Yadav 2-12) by 82 runs.
Source:IANS
