Women's Twenty20 Asia Cup | India demolish Sri Lanka to reach final
Chasing a target of 122, Sri Lanka were restricted to 69/9 in 20 overs as Preeti Bose and Ekta Bisht took three wickets each for India. Earlier, Mithali Raj continued her stunning form with a knock of 62 and helped the Indian eves book their place in the final, where they could face Pakistan.
Brief Scores: India 121/4 in 20 overs (Mithali Raj 62(59), Krishnamurthy 21(23); Prabodhani 1/20) beat Sri Lanka 69/9 in 20 overs (Surangika 20(32), Weerakkody 14(14); Bisht 3/8, Bose 3/14) by 52 runs
Batting first at the Asian Institute of Technology Ground in Bangkok, India were off to a good start with Mithali Raj and Smriti Mandhana forming a 46-run stand for the first wicket. After the latter’s dismissal in the 10th over, Veda Krishnamurthy provided good support to Raj, who brought up her ninth T20 half-century. The 33-year-old remained at the wicket till the penultimate ball of the innings, when she was run out, and helped India to the highest total by a team in this edition of the Asia Cup so far.
In reply, Sri Lanka were off to a poor start as they lost both their openers, Hasini Perera and Chamari Atapattu, by the 5th over with just 16 runs on the board. Ekta Bisht then ran through the middle-order with her spell of 3/8 in four overs, as Sri Lanka fell short by 52 runs.
This was India’s fourth win in a row in the tournament, and they have now booked their place in the final with a match against Nepal remaining in the group stage. They are likely to face Pakistan in the final, who are currently second in the points table. India had beaten their neighbors earlier in the competition by five wickets.