Dynamic India will look to extend their winning streak and secure a place in the semi-finals when they face Nepal in their final Group A game of the Women’s T20 Asian Cup 2024 on Tuesday. India recorded convincing victories in their first two matches of the continental tournament, defeating traditional rivals Pakistan and UAE by seven wickets and 78 runs respectively to put one foot in the semi-finals. The Nepal Minnows hardly have time to recover from the thrashing they received at the hands of Pakistan in their previous match on Sunday, the same day the tournament’s heavy favorites and defending champions India demolished the hapless Emirati team.
While India are set to enter the semi-finals, Pakistan improved their net run rate with their comfortable win over Nepal, taking them to second place in Group A.
India, however, will not be bothered by the performance of other teams and will look to maintain the momentum they have gained with two convincing victories en route to the semi-finals.
India have flexed their muscles in both batting and bowling so far in the tournament and are likely to continue in the same vein on Tuesday.
If the opening pair of Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma blazed with the bat in victory over Pakistan, after the bowlers’ excellent display, captains Harmanpret Kaur and Richa Ghosh led the show in the middle order in the UAE’s hammering.
Big hitter Ghosh especially was in a destructive mood as he hit 64 off just 29 balls while Kaur compiled 66 off 47 deliveries.
While Kaur played the anchor role to perfection, it was Ghosh’s fierce knock that helped India score their first 200-plus total in T20Is.
As far as Indian bowling is concerned, the likes of Renuka Singh, Pooja Vastrakar and Deepti Sharma have done a wonderful job both in containing runs and taking wickets.
Even Tanuja Kanwar, who was called up as a replacement for the injured Shreyanka Patil, did her duty with aplomb, giving away just 14 runs while taking one wicket in her full quota of four overs.
Indu Barma-led Nepal, who started the tournament with a historic six-wicket win over UAE, are well aware of the task.
They will certainly gain confidence from their first victory in the event, but the Himalayan nation will need much more than that to come close to challenging a dominant India.
Teams:
India: Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Uma Chetry (wk), Pooja Vastrakar, Deepti Sharma, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh, D Hemalatha, Asha Sobhana, Radha Yadav, Tanuja Kanwar , Sajana Sajeevan.
Nepal: Indu Barma (C), Kajol Shrestha, Rubina Chettri, Sabnam Rai, Sita Rana Magar, Rajmati Airee, Puja Mahato, Bindu Rawal, Roma Thapa, Mamta Chaudhary, Kabita Joshi, Kabita Kunwar, Dolly Bhatta, Kritika Marasini, Samjhana Khadka.
The match starts at 7 pm IST.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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