Harmanpreet, Richa Ghosh guide India to 78-run win over UAE in Women's Asia Cup

DAMBULLA: Contrasting fifties from skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and Richa Ghosh were complemented nicely by the bowlers as India notched up a massive 78-run win over UAE in their second match of the ongoing women's Asia Cup T20 tournament here on Sunday.

Invited to bat, Kaur played the anchor's role to perfection with a 47-ball 66, while Ghosh produced late charge with an unbeaten 29-ball-64 to power defending champions India to 201 for five, their first-ever 200-plus score in T20Is.

The bowlers, led by Deepti Sharma (2/23), then produced a clinical show to limit UAE to 123 for 7 as India put one foot in the semifinals.

With two wins in as many games, India occupy the top spot in group A with four points and have a Net Run Rate of +3.298.

India will play their third and final group game against Nepal on Tuesday.

Chasing the daunting total, opener Esha Rohit Oza scored a 36-ball 38 (5x4, 1x6) but UAE never were in the chase as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals.

Pace duo of Renuka Singh (1/30) and Pooja Vastrakar (1/27) dismissed Theertha Satish (4) and Rinitha Rajith (7) as UAE slipped to 24 for 2 in 5.2 overs.

Deepti then struck in her third ball, removing Samaira Dharnidharka (5) but Oza and Kavisha Egodage (40 not out) played some entertaining shots to score 20 runs in next three overs.

However, Tanuja Kanwar (1/14), who had replaced an injured Shreyanka Patil in the playing XI, had Oza stumped, while Radha Yadav (1/29) got rid of Khushi Sharma (10) as UAE fell to 95 for five in the 16th over.

Heena Hotchandani then became Deepti's second victim and Rithika was run out in the last ball as UAE finished far away from India's total.

Earlier, while the 35-year-old Harmanpreet blasted seven fours and a six during her innings, Ghosh slammed as many as 12 boundaries and a maximum, including five consecutive hits to the fence in the final over of the innings bowled by Hotchandani.

Kaur stitched two crucial partnerships, adding 54 off 39 balls with Jemimah Rodrigues and 75 off 45 balls with Ghosh to put India in a commanding position.

Opener Smriti Mandhana (13) blasted a six and a four to give India a good start but an overambitious shot saw her being holed out at mid-off off spinner Egodage in the third over.

Shafali Verma then produced some sensational shots, carting the bowlers for five fours and a six en route an 18-ball 37. But she committed the mistake of edging a short and wide ball from seamer Dharnidharka as the keeper did the rest.

Hotchandani then cleaned up Dayalan Hemalatha (2) in the first delivery of the next over as India slipped to 52 for 3 inside the powerplay.

Harmanpreet and Rodrigues (14) then joined hands and kept the scoreboard ticking with the former doing the heavy lifting in the 39-ball 54-run stand, which put India across the 100-mark in the 11th over.

Once Rodrigues was dismissed by Egodage in the 12th over, Ghosh displayed her boundary-hitting prowess, using her cover drive to perfection to rack up 18 runs off Oza's over with four boundaries.

Harmanpreet reached her fifty in the 18th over and then clobbered two fours and a six off Samaira as India crossed the 180-run mark.

While Harmanpreet was run out in the first ball of the 19th over, Ghosh slammed five fours in the remaining five balls to reach her fifty, her first in the shortest format.

Ghosh reached her fifty in just 26 balls, and in the last over alone she milked 20 runs.