Women's Asia Cup: India beat Nepal by 82 runs to storm into semifinal

DAMBULLA: Team India has stormed into the semifinal of the Women's Asia Cup by beating Nepal by 82 runs in the Group A match held in Dambulla on Tuesday. With this, India finished first in Group A by winning all three group matches. India had defeated Pakistan and UAE in its first two matches in the group stage.

Winning the toss and electing to bat first, India scored 178 runs for the loss of three wickets in 20 overs. In reply, Nepal managed to score only 96/9 in their 20 overs.

Shafali Verma’s scintillating half-century (81 off 47 balls) coupled with Dayalan Hemalatha’s 47 powered India to 178/3 after opting to bat first.

Smriti Mandhana captained the Indian team in the absence of skipper Harmanpreet Kaur. Although Malayali player Sajana Sajeev was included in the playing elevens, she was dismissed cheaply for 10 runs.

Among the Indian bowlers, Deepti returned with the figures of 3-13 in her four overs while Reddy and Radha bagged two scalps each.