New Delhi:
Indian women cricket team on Saturday thrashed arch-rivals Pakistan with seven wickets the virtual semi-final match of the women’s Asia Cup Twenty20 tournament at the Kinrara Academy Oval in Kuala Lumpur.
Pakistan won the crucial toss in the semi-final and elected to bat first. However, their decision to bat first didn’t fetch good results and the women in green were restricted to just 72 for seven in the allotted 20 overs.
For India, left-arm spinner Ekta Bisht was the most successful bowler and took 3 important wickets, conceding just 14 runs in her four-over spell. Apart from Bisht, Shikha Pandey, Anuja Patil Poonam Yadav and Deepti Sharma scalped one wicket each.
Pace spearhead Jhulan Goswami, however, continued her poor show and went wicketless.
Chasing a paltry total of 73 three runs, India had a disastrous start as the team lost Mithali Raj and Deepti Sharma in first 3 three overs. Both of them could not even open their account.
Opener Smriti Mandhana with 38 off 40 balls and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (34 off 49 balls) build a wonderful partnership of 60 runs. Mandhana got out in the 16th over but Kaur stayed till the end and scored winning boundary with as many as 23 balls to remain.
Now in the finals, India could again face Pakistan but that would depend on the outcome of the match between third-placed Bangladesh and hosts Malaysia. If Bangladesh win, it will face India in the finals.
