Women's Cricket
India enters semis beating Nepal by 82 runs in Women's T20 Asia Cup
Shefali Verma's pyrotechnics helped India set a big total, before the bowlers took over.
India now has a hat-trick of wins as they move to the semifinals of the Women's T20 Asia Cup in Sri Lanka. (Photo Credit: ACC)
India stormed into the semifinals of the Women's T20 Asia Cup, defeating Nepal by 82 runs at the Rangiri International Stadium in Dambulla, Sri Lanka, on Tuesday.
With skipper Harmanpreet Kaur rested, Smriti Mandhana took on the role of captain to lead the side to a convincing win.
Having won the toss and choosing to bat first, Shefali Verma, with her new opening pairing Hemalatha, amassed 122 runs for the opening partnership.
Verma smashed a career best 81 out of 48 balls and was adjudged player of the match. The solid opening partnership laid the foundation to post a big total of 178 for the loss of 3 wickets.
Tough Ask for Nepal
It’s always going to be a tough ask for Nepal to chase such a big total given their limited experience in T20 cricket. However, they managed to play out their full 20 overs and scored 96 runs for the loss of 9 wickets.
Nepal’s Captain Indu Barma and Sita Rana Magar played some lovely cover drives and kept the scoreboard ticking, but they weren’t allowed to stay long in the crease, thanks to some experienced and lethal bowling from India.
Deepti Sharma headlined the Indian bowling attack with figures of 3/13, while Arundhati Reddy and Radha Yadav chipped in with two wickets each.
Tanuja Kanwar did not manage to take a wicket from her 4 overs but gave away only 12 runs, whereas Renuka singh with her tight lines, eventually claimed one, finishing with figures of 1/15.
With this win, India topped Group A and became the second team to qualify for the semifinals.
Earlier, India had beaten Pakistan and UAE. India will face the 2nd place finisher from Group B in the semi-finals which includes Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bangladesh, and Malaysia.
