Buoyed by the century opening stand between Shafali Verma and Hemalatha, along with superb bowling effort from both seamers and spinners, India Women’s team thrashed their Nepalese counterparts by a whopping 82-run margin. With this win, India have secured a place in the semi-final of the Women’s T20 Asia Cup 2024. It was India’s three successive win for India who earlier beat UAE in this Asia Cup.
Nepal Begin Their Chase on a Disastrous Note in This Women’s T20 Asia Cup 2024 Fixture
it took India only 1.4 overs to get the first wicket as Arundhati Reddy bowled Samjhana Khadka in the latter’s unsuccessful attempt to hit across the line. Then it was the turn of Renuka Singh to be among the wicket column. The India speedster got Kabita Kunwar out caught by Smriti at mid-off. The score read 21 for 2 at the end of 4.4 overs.
Indu Barma hit two successive boundaries to take Nepal to 29 for 2 at the end of five overs. However, a tidy last over of the powerplay followed as Nepal reached 31 for 2 at the end of six overs.
Scenario Post the Powerplay in This Women’s T20 Asia Cup 2024 Fixture
Spinners Deepti Sharma and Tanuja Kunwar further stemmed the flow of runs by bowling tidily, continuing their dominant display. Radha Yadav came to bowl in the 10th over and took the prized scalp of Indu Barma who was looking solid. Indu slogged one but was snapped by Shafali inside the boundary rope.
Nepal Found Itself in Deeper Trouble After the 10th Over
Arundhati hit the timber of Sita Rana who scored 18 off 22 balls. Sita got anchored to the crease as the ball crashes the stump. Deepti followed by getting Rubina Chhetry dragged to the stump. It was five down for Nepal. She took another wicket by trapping Kabita Joshi leg before. Soon Pooja got run out as Nepal was reeling at 70 for 7. Radha Yadav got Dolly Bhatia out caught by Richa Ghosh behind the stump. Nepal was 8 down for 82. Bindu tried to force the pace and, to a lesser extent, was successful in doing so. Deepti, in the final over of the innings, took the catch in her follow-up to have Nepal at 93 for 9. Nepal at the end of 20 overs reached 96 for 9, 82 short of India’s total.
Shafali, Hemalatha Gave India a Blistering Start in Women’s T20 Asia Cup 2024 Encounter Against Nepal
Smriti Mandhana, the stand-in skipper, won the toss and elected to bat first at Dambulla, Sri Lanka. Smriti chose Dalayan Hemalatha to accompany her opening partner Shafali Verma this time around. Both put the Nepalese bowlers to sword by scoring 50 in the first 6 overs of powerplay. Shafali was destructive as usual, slamming six fours, while Hemalatha chipped in with two boundaries during this period.
Demolition Work Continued After the Powerplay (7-10 Overs)
The seventh over of the Indian innings saw Shafali Verma smashing Rubina Chhetry for a six and four, making her aggressive intent loud and clear. The following over saw Hemalatha joining in the act by dispatching a rank loosener from Kabita Joshi at square leg. On the fourth delivery of this over, Shafali smacked one at the long-on region before taking a single to complete his blazing 50 in just 26 deliveries. Hemalatha hit the last delivery for a maximum to take India’s score to 81 in 8 overs. Indu Barma bowled an economical 9th over, giving away just four runs, a rare sight in the innings. Another economical over followed as Sita Rana gave away just six runs despite flighting the ball up to these two batters. India reached 91 for no loss at the end of 10 overs in Women’s T20 Asia Cup 2024 encounter against Nepal.
All10 Wickets Left, 10 Overs to Go in the Indian Innings
Although India raced to 91 in the first 10 overs, Hemalatha didn’t look at her usual best, struggling to time the ball better. As she was still there alongside Shafali, the prospects of a very big total loomed large on the Nepalese team. Hemalatha responsed fiercely to the first ball bowled after the drinks by slamming it hard through the gap at backward point. Shafali followed it up with a four on the third ball of the 11th over, taking India to 100 for no loss.
Ominous signs for Nepal in this Women’s T20 Asia Cup 12024 fixture against Nepal. Meanwhile Sita Rana continues to be impressive by not allowing the batters to dominate. She had Hemalatha out if not for the dropped catch by Indu Barma at long off in the 12th over and let that touch the fence, adding insult to the injury. Then followed an economical over from Indu Barma.
Nepal Took the First Wicket in the 15th Over
It took Nepal 14.1 overs to get their first wicket as Hemalatha was holed out trying to loft the ball out of the park. Rubina Chhetry took a good catch at long on to saw the back of Hemalatha. Sita Rana took that wicket and she followed it up with another wicket that of the dangerous Shafali Verma, who was out stumped by Kajal Shrestha. Shafali scored 81 out of India’s score of 142 for 2 at the end of 15.3 overs.
Time for Jemimah to Showcase Her Experience
Jemimah Rodrigues hit two boundaries to reach 12 runs as India reached 154 for 2 at the end of 18 overs. The third ball of the 19th over saw Kabita trapping S Sajana leg before to provide Nepal the third breakthrough. Rodrigues hit three fours in the final over to take India’s total to 178 at the end of 20 overs.
For more cricketing updates, go to zarooribaathai.in.
