Dambulla. Opener Shefali Verma’s blazing 81 off 48 balls followed by a superb bowling performance helped India beat Nepal by 82 runs in their last group match of the Women’s Asia Cup T20 tournament and qualify for the semi-finals.
After scoring 178 runs for three wickets, India restricted Nepal’s innings to 96 runs for nine wickets. India topped Group A with three wins in three matches and made it to the semi-finals, while Nepal’s journey ended with two points from one win in three matches. Pakistan also reached the semi-finals from this group. Pakistan has four points from three matches.
For India, Deepti Sharma took three wickets for 13 runs in four overs while Radha Yadav and Arundhati Reddy took two wickets each. Renuka Singh got one wicket. For Nepal, Sita Rana Magar scored 18 while Bindu Rawal remained unbeaten on 17 runs. Rubina Chhetri (15) and captain Indu Verma (14) were also among the batsmen who scored in double figures.
Apart from hitting 12 fours and a six in her innings, Shefali gave the team a great start by sharing 122 runs in 84 balls for the first wicket with D Hemalatha. Hemalatha contributed 47 runs in her 42-ball innings with the help of five fours and a six. In the last overs, Jemima Rodrigues played an unbeaten innings of 28 runs with the help of five fours in 15 balls. For Nepal, Sita Rana Magar took two wickets and Kavita Joshi took one wicket.
While defending the target, Arundhati gave India a good start by bowling out Samjhana Khadka (seven) in the second over. Kavita Kunwar and Sita Rana tried to show aggressive attitude by hitting a four each in the next over of this bowler. Renuka sent Kavita (six) to the pavilion in the fifth over while Radha sent Indu back. Nepal had to win this match in 10.2 overs to reach the semi-finals but the team could score only 48 runs for three wickets in 10 overs.
Sita Rana welcomed Arundhati’s second spell in the 11th over with a four but the bowler bowled her out on the next ball. Rubina hit the first six of the innings off Deepti’s ball but was bowled out on the next ball of this off-spinner. In the same over, Kavita Joshi was given LBW without even opening her account. Deepti then did a brilliant job of fielding and ran out Pooja Mahto (two) while Radha got Dolly Bhatta caught behind the wicket in the 17th over.
Bindu tried to reduce the margin of defeat by hitting a four against Arundhati but she was not successful in completing the team’s century of runs. The Indian team rested regular captain Harmanpreet Kaur and all-rounder Pooja Vastrakar in this match.
Hemalatha opened the Indian innings in place of Smriti Mandhana, who was leading the team in the match, along with Shefali Verma. Shefali once again gave the team a quick start by hitting two fours against Kavita Kunwar in the first over and Shabnam Rai in the fourth over.
Hemalatha, playing cautiously from the other end, gained confidence by hitting a spectacular four against Pooja.
The Indian team completed the half-century of runs in the sixth over. Shefali hit a six and a four against Rubina in the next over, while Hemlata did the same against Kavita Joshi in the eighth over. Shefali hit a four in the same over and then completed the half-century in 26 balls with a run.
While Shafali was scoring runs at will against the Nepal bowlers, Hemalata was having trouble finding the gaps.
Sita Rana gave Nepal its first success by dismissing Hemalata on the last ball of the 14th over. In her next over, Shefali also got stumped while trying to play a big shot. Sanjeevan Sajna, who came in the team in place of Vastrakar, could not do much and became the victim of Kavita Joshi after scoring 10 runs in 12 balls. Jemima hit three fours in the last over to take the team close to 180 runs.