Women’s Asia Cup: India Cruise To Final With A Comfortable Win

Sylhet: Indian all-rounder Deepti Sharma’s three-wicket haul and Shafali Verma’s 28-ball 42 helped India women beat Thailand by 74 runs in the first semi-final in Sylhet on Thursday.

Put into bat, India posted 148/6 in 20 overs. Shafali struck five fours and one six during her breezy knock. With the scorecard reading 67/2 in 9.1 overs, skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (36) and Jemimah Rodrigues (27) put on a 42-run stand for the third wicket. Pooja Vastrakar added an unbeaten 17. Thailand’s Sornnarin Tippoch bagged three wickets for 24 runs.

In reply, Thailand Women were restricted to 74/9 in their 20 overs, thanks to Deepti’s terrific spell 4-1-7-3. Rajeshwari Gayakwad also came up with a superb spell of 4-0-10-2.

The win meant that India will play the final of the Women’s Asia Cup T20 2022 on October 15. The second semi-final between Pakistan Women and Sri Lanka Women will be played later today.

In the post-match presentation, India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur said: “We batted really well. Thailand bowled quite well, not giving us easy runs. We really had to work hard. That partnership (between her and Jemimah) helped us to get a score on the board. When you’re not playing a lot, you need runs to get confidence. She (Deepti) is someone who is willing to bowl at any stage. Having such a bowler always gives confidence. When you’re getting around 150 on the board more often than not, it gives confidence. Whoever makes it to the final, we’ll make plans.”