Shafali Verma’s T20I Masterclass Leads India to Semi-Finals in Women’s Asia Cup 2024
Shafali Verma’s career-best score of 81 and a disciplined bowling effort from all the bowlers guaranteed India a place in the Women’s Asia Cup 2024 semifinals.
With an 82-run win over Nepal, India continued their perfect record in Group A. Pakistan also made it to the knockout stages after previously defeating UAE.
Nepal 96 for 9 (Deepti 3-13, Radha 2-12, Reddy 2-28) lost to India 178 for 3 (Shafali 81, Hemalatha 47, Magar 2-25) by 82 runs.
Shafali scored 81, and Rodrigues added 15 off of no fewer than 28 balls to help India outscore Nepal.
Choosing to bat first, Shafali’s light stroke and a strong opening partnership with D Hemalatha helped the Smriti Mandhana-led Indians record a score of 178 for 3. Since Nepal doesn’t play under lights, they had an uphill battle against a potent bowling attack as they could only muster 96 for 9 in 20 overs.
India rested all-rounder Pooja Vastrakar and usual captain Harmanpreet Kaur as they were nearly certain of a semi-final position. Instead, S Sajana and Arundhati Reddy saw some action. A shift occurred at the top of the order as well, with India pushing Hemalatha to begin with Shafali. Several errant deliveries went unpunished early on as the openers took their time evaluating the situation. Shafali, however, quickly got her footing and picked up speed. Her opening partner that day cannot be regarded to be in the same boat.
Hemalatha made a stunning recovery against Bangladesh in April, scoring forty-one runs without losing. However, in the eight ODI and T20I innings that followed, she had only once scored thirty runs. On the other hand, Hemalatha had a fantastic chance to secure her place in the starting lineup by batting on a slow surface against an Associate team. She did manage to hit a couple of decent strokes off with a solid bottom hand, but overall she found it difficult to find her timing in a 42-ball 47.
Conversely, Shafali took advantage of the Nepali bowlers’ inability to locate the correct length and line. She played with strong effort overall, using her feet and wrist to flick, hit straight drives down the ground, and slog sweep to deep midwicket. India ended the powerplay at 50 for 0, and in the eighth over, off just 26 balls, Shafali scored her ninth T20I fifty. India was 91 for 0 at the midway point and was certain to score 200 runs once more.
Also Read: India Dominates Pakistan with Comprehensive Win in Women’s Asia Cup 2024
But in the 14th and 16th overs, respectively, Nepal’s skilled left-arm spinner Sita Rana Magar turned the tide and dismissed Hemalatha and Shafali. With 12 fours and a six towards the conclusion of her innings, Shafali’s opening partnership of 122 runs was the biggest opening stand in Women’s T20 Asia Cup history and the second-highest partnership for any wicket.
With the new batsmen, India’s scoring rate slowed down, but Jemimah Rodrigues’ astute batting—she hit five fours in her 15-ball 28 not out—helped India to over 180 runs. Similar to Hemalatha, Sajana had difficulties during her 12-ball stay. It will be interesting to see if India sticks with Hemalatha or gives Sajana more chances at No. 3 in the run-up to the T20 World Cup in October.
Reddy was able to rejoin the Indian team due to an injury to Titas Sadhu, after he had shown promise in both the WPL and domestic cricket. Reddy has risen to the occasion in the few chances she has had since making a comeback against South Africa last month.
She performed admirably once more against Nepal, grabbing 2 for 28 in her four overs. Having spent the last twelve to fifteen months honing her swing and variations, Reddy sent opener Samjhana Khadka off with her fourth delivery. After conceding 11 runs in her opening over, she rallied to get rid of Magar for a 22-ball 18 with a ball that sailed back in and struck the middle stump.
Early in the chase, Nepal was severely shaken and never fully recovered.
