Nepal faced a difficult chase, losing wickets at regular intervals to fall to 52 for four in 10.2 overs, with seamer Arundhati dismissing both openers, Samjhana Khadka (7) and Sita Rana Magar (18).
Defending champion India crushed Nepal by 82 runs in its final group match to secure a quarterfinal berth at the Women’s Asia Cup T20 event here on Tuesday. Explosive opener Shafali Verma hammered a career-best 48-ball 81.Stand-in captain Smriti Mandhana won the toss and chose to bat, giving India a flying start. Shafali and Dayalan Hemalatha (47), however, opened the innings and caused havoc with the batting order.
The opening pair set the tone by smashing their way to 122 in 14 overs.
Then, to send India to a commanding 178 for three, Jemimah Rodrigues struck an undefeated 28 off 15 balls, including three fours in the last over.Nepal’s bowling collapsed against the in-form Indian attack, which bowled them out of 96 for nine in their 20 overs. Nepal had to reach the mark in less than 10 overs to overtake Pakistan on net run rate and advance to the semifinals.
The most successful bowler for India was Deepti Sharma (3/13) who claimed three wickets, followed by her spin teammate Radha Yadav (2/12) and seamer Arundhati Reddy (2/18), who replaced a rested Pooja Vastrakar, who claimed two wickets each.
Pakistan thus became the second team from group A to advance to the semifinals.
The bowler Arundhati removed both of the openers, Samjhana Khadka (7) and Sita Rana Magar (18), as Nepal dropped wickets at a steady rate and ended up at 52 for four in 10.2 overs.
Radha removed Indu Barma (14), while Renuka Singh (1/15) removed Kabita Kunwar (6).
