Dambulla (Sri Lanka): An unbeaten India made to the semi final of the ongoing Women's Asia Cup T20 with utmost ease as they thrashed Nepal by 82 runs in their last league game here on Tuesday.
India rode on a blistering 81 off just 48 balls by opener Shafali Varma to post a challenging 178/3 on the board in their alloted 20 overs and then bowled out/restricted the opposition to 96/9 to register a comfortable win.
Shafali, who hails from Haryana, literally toyed an inexperienced Nepal attack, as she hammered 12 boundaries and a six in her entertaining knock.
She found an able partner in fellow opener D Hemalatha, who also made a quickfire 47 off 42 balls, with five boundaries and a maximum. The duo added 122 runs for the first wicket to lay down the foundation stone for a big total.
However Nepal pegged back the hosts dismissing both the openers in quick succession as India slipped to 133/2. One down S fell cheaply but an unbeaten 28 off just 15 balls by Jemimah Rodrigues helped India go past the 175-run mark.
Nepal were never in the chase and kept losing wickets. Opener Sita Rana Nagar top scored with 18. For India, Deepti Sharma was the pick of the bowlers as she returned with fine figures of 3 for 13 while Radha Yadav (2/12), Arundhati Reddy (2/28) and Renuka Singh Thakur (1/15) superbly complimented her.
Shafali Varma was adjudged as the Player of the Match.
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