India eye UAE scalp, women's Asia Cup semifinal berth

DAMBULLA: Dominant India will be eager to perfect their tactics further while warding off United Arab Emirates which also can push them firmly towards the semifinals of the women’s Asia Cup here on Sunday.

Defending champions India’s supremacy was evident in their facile seven-wicket victory over arch-rivals Pakistan on Saturday, and the UAE will require a giant-sized miracle to stop Harmanpreet Kaur’s side.

India currently have two points and a Net Run Rate of +2.29, and a win over the Emirates will take them to four points, which will also have a positive reflection on their NRR.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that India will look more inwards in their match against the UAE, than fretting over the rivals.

There were excellent spells from Deepti Sharma, Renuka Singh and Pooja Vastrakar, who though was slightly on the expensive side, against Pakistan, and their effort would have pleased the management to no limit.

They will hope that left-arm spinner Radha Yadav, who returned to the India fold during the home series against South Africa recently, too can join the wicket-takers’ list on Sunday.

“It was a good spell and there was some assistance from the weather as well. Of course, I could execute all the plans that I have been working on at nets,” said Renuka in the post-match press meet.

To top it, the Indian batters were ruthless in hunting down a non-challenging target with 35 balls to spare.

Openers Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana gave the team a flying start adding 85 runs in just 9.3 overs and the loss of three wickets from that position was a minor aberration.

Hence, India would hope that there would be a matching effort from the middle-order batters in the upcoming matches, starting with the UAE.

The Asia Cup also presents India with a wonderful opportunity to prepare for the T20 World Cup to be held in Bangladesh later this year.

Renuka said India are treating this event as a preparatory ground for the ICC showpiece.

“The Asia Cup is important for us because after this we don’t have many matches (ahead of T20 WC) and we will have to rely on practice.

“So, this is a learning experience for us, and the conditions (in Bangladesh) could be similar. So, this is a good chance for us to get ready for the World Cup,” she said.

That said, India would do well not to lose focus on the present assignment and the UAE have the ability to give some tight moments as they showed against Nepal on Friday despite a six-wicket defeat.

In the day’s second match, Pakistan will look to bounce back with a win when they face a tricky Nepal.

Teams (from):

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, Shreyanka Patil, Sajana Sajeevan.

UAE: Esha Rohit Oza (C), Kavisha Kumari Egodage, Rithika Rajith, Samaira Dharnidharka, Lavanya Keny, Emily Thomas, Heena Harish Hotchandani, Mehak Thakur, Indhuja Nandakumar, Rinitha Rajith, Khushi Mohan Sharma, Rishitha Rajith, Suraksha Kotte, Theertha Satish, Vaishnave Mahesh.

Match starts at 2 PM IST.