Dhaka: India defeated Thailand by 74 runs in the Asia Cup Women’s Twenty20 cricket final. India, who lost the toss and batted, scored 148 runs for the loss of six wickets, while Thailand, who batted in reply, ended with 74 runs for the loss of nine wickets. India’s Shafali Verma, who excelled in batting and bowling, is the star of the game. Shafali scored 42 runs off 28 balls conceding only nine runs in two overs and took one wicket.
Shafali and Smriti Manthana scored 38 runs for the first wicket. Smriti faced 14 balls and got out after scoring 13 runs. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur (36 off 30 balls) and Jemima Rodriguez (27 off 26 balls) put up a good performance. Richa Ghosh (2) and Deepti Sharma (3) got out without contributing much. Pooja Vastrakar remained unbeaten on 17 runs off 13 balls.
The Indian bowlers did not give Thailand much of a chance. With the batsmen getting out at regular intervals, India won easily. Nadaya Boochatham, who scored 21 runs off 29 balls, and captain Narumol Chaiwai, who scored 21 runs off 41 balls, resisted for Thailand.
For India, Deepti Sharma took three wickets conceding only seven runs, while Rajeshwari Gaekwad took two wickets, Renuka Singh, Sneh Rana and Shafali Verma took one wicket each. Sri Lanka and Pakistan will meet in the second semi-final today. The final is on October 15.