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With an 82-run victory over Nepal, Shafali Verma’s career-best 81 and a methodical bowling effort sent India into the Women’s Asia Cup 2024 semifinals. India won all three of its games to take the lead in Group A. With two wins out of three, Pakistan—who had defeated UAE earlier in the afternoon—was the second team to make it to the knockout stage.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Nepal were rocked early in the chase, and never really recovered.