Shafali Verma’s career-best performance followed by a clinical show from the bowlers propels India into the semi-final of the ACC Women’s T20 Asia Cup
Pakistan led by skipper Nida Dar handed a dominant 10-wicket hammering against the United Arab Emirates led by skipper Esha Oza in the 9th match of the tournament.
India were all set to face Nepal in the 10th match of the tournament. Regular Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur was rested, the vice-captain of the side Smriti Mandhana took over the leadership duties. The stand-in skipper Smriti Mandhana won the toss and opted to bat first. Both sides made a couple of changes to their side, Sajeevan Sajana and Arundhati Reddy replaced regular skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and Pooja Vastrakar in the playing 11 for India. Dolly Bhatta and Sabnam Rai replaced Roma Thapa and Kritika Marasini in the playing 11 for Nepal.
Dayalan Hemalatha was promoted to open the innings alongside Shafali Verma. The openers provided a solid start with a 122-run opening stand, scoring around nine runs an over. It is also the highest opening partnership in the Women’s T20 Asia Cup. Sita Rana Magar picked up the wicket of Dayalan Hemalatha to provide the much-needed first breakthrough for Nepal. She fell three runs short of her maiden international half-century.
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Shafali Verma soon followed her back to the pavilion to provide the 2nd breakthrough for Nepal. Jemimah Rodrigues joined Sajeevan Sajana at the crease and the duo stitched a crucial 23-run partnership for the 3rd wicket to take their side past the 150-run mark. Kabita Joshi picked up the wicket of Sajeevan Sajana to provide the 3rd breakthrough her side.
India eventually ended up with a total of 178/3 in their quota of overs. Shafali Verma (81 off 48 balls), Dayalan Hemalatha (47 off 42 balls), and Jemimah Rodrigues (28 off 15 balls) were the top performers with the bat for India. Sita Rana Magar (4-0-25-2), and Kabita Joshi (4-0-36-1) were the top performers with the ball for Nepal.
Chasing a target of 179, Nepal got off to a poor start as they lost the wicket of their opening batter Samjhana Khadka in the 2nd over of the run chase. Arundhati Reddy provided the first breakthrough for India. Kabita Kunwar joined Sita Rana Magar at the crease and the duo stitched a 13-run partnership for the 2nd wicket. Renuka Singh picked up the wicket of Kabita Kunwar to provide the 2nd breakthrough for her side.
Skipper Indu Barma joined Sita Rana Magar at the crease and the duo stitched a 22-run partnership for the 3rd wicket to take their side close to the 50-run mark. Radha Yadav picked up the big wicket of the opposition skipper Indu Barma to provide the 3rd breakthrough for India. Sita Rana Magar soon followed her back to the pavilion to provide the 4th breakthrough for India. Arundhati Reddy provided the much-needed breakthrough.
Nepal kept losing wickets at regular intervals and were eventually restricted to 96/9, falling short of the target by 82 runs. They lost their last five wickets for just 44 runs. Sita Rana Magar (18 off 22 balls), Bindu Rawal (17 off 19 balls), and Rubina Chhetry (15 off 16 balls) were the top performers with the bat for Nepal. Deepti Sharma (4-0-13-3), Renuka Singh (4-1-15-1), Radha Yadav (3-0-12-2), and Arundhati Reddy (4-0-28-2) were the top performers with the ball for India.
Shafali Verma was awarded the Player of the Match for her career-best performance (81 off 48 balls) with the bat. She played a crucial role in helping India post a competitive total on the board. The bowlers backed up with a clinical show as India progressed to the semi final of the ACC Women’s T20 Asia Cup 2024, by staying unbeaten throughout the league stages of the tournament.