IND-W vs UAE-W, Women’s Asia Cup T20 2024: Harmanpreet, Richa lead India to huge win against UAE

Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and Richa Ghosh starred for the Indian women’s cricket team as it defeated the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by 78 runs in their Women’s Asia Cup T20 2024 Group A match at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium in Sri Lanka on Friday.

Batting first, world No. 3 India piled up a huge total of 201 runs on board courtesy of half-centuries by Harmanpreet Kaur (66 off 47) and Richa Ghosh (64 off 29 balls). Shafali Varma gave a terrific start to the innings with her 18-ball 37.

A disciplined effort from the Indian bowlers then restricted the UAE batters to 123/7 in 20 overs. Deepti Sharma was the pick of the bowlers, returning with figures of 2/23.

The win also helped India consolidate their claim on the semi-final spot. They won their first game of the tournament against Pakistan on Friday with seven wickets and 35 balls to spare and will play their final group match against Nepal on Tuesday.

The top two teams from the group will qualify for the semi-finals.

Earlier in the day, UAE skipper Esha Rohit Oza won the toss and chose to bowl first. Indian openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma made full use of the field restrictions and raced away to a quick start.

Though Mandhana departed while trying to score at a brisk rate, Shafali Verma continued to play fearless cricket as India brought up their 50 inside five overs.

Two quick wickets helped UAE, ranked 16th in the world, end the powerplay on a high but a couple of crucial partnerships involving Harmanpreet Kaur helped India steer past the 200-mark

The Indian women’s team captain added 54 runs in 39 balls with Jemimah Rodrigues before stitching together another impressive 75-run partnership off just 45 balls with the aggressive Richa Ghosh.

Harmanpreet brought up her fifty in 41 balls while the 20-year-old Richa smashed five boundaries in a row to finish the innings and brought up her maiden T20 International fifty.

In the second innings, the Indian bowlers bowled a tight line and length to choke the flow of runs right from the start. UAE could only manage 31/2 in the powerplay as Renuka Singh and Pooja Vastarakar scalped the early wickets.

Despite gritty knocks by skipper Esha Rohit Oza (38 off 36) and Kavisha Egodage (40* off 32 balls), UAE’s innings never took off and eventually ended at 123/7 in 20 overs.

While Deepti Sharma (2/23) picked up a brace, Renuka Singh, Tanuja Kanwar, Pooja Vatrakar and Radha Yadav bagged a wicket each.

IND-W vs UAE-W Women’s Asia Cup T20 2024 scores: India 201/5 in 20 overs (Harmanpreet Kaur 66, Richa Ghosh 64*, Shafali Verma 37; Kavisha Egodage 2/36) beat UAE 123/7 in 20 overs (Kavisha Egodage 40*; Deepti Sharma 2/23) by 78 runs.