Smriti Mandhana's record-toppling show fuels India's thrashing of Hong Kong in Women’s Asia Cup
It was a night of records toppling in Dubai as a resounding Smriti Mandhana show that crackled with lights, sound and fury blew Hong Kong apart in the ongoing Women’s Asia Cup. Mandhana single-handedly spearheaded the Indian batting charge while the bowlers combined to help India register their second-largest victory in WT20Is.
Winning the toss, Hong Kong opted to bowl first. They had a couple of changes with their most experienced campaigner, Natasha Miles coming back to the side. However, India had their priorities sorted and Mandhana ensured that all the checkboxes were ticked emphatically.
Mandhana and Shafali Verma started the Powerplay on a high despite the first couple of overs witnessing caution from the two openers. However, as time went by, both Mandhana and Verma flew off the block and India concluded the powerplay with 22 runs in the sixth over, a testimony to their mindless destruction.
Verma (28) was the first one to fall when her attempted walk down the track went all wrong with a miscued hit down the ground, which was brilliantly pouched by a diving Marina Lamplough at long-on. The breakthrough provided by Ruchitha Venkatesh did slow the equation down for India but it couldn’t deter Smriti from walking away from her road of destruction.
An incoming Pratika Rawal (10) anchored the innings at the other end, allowing the Indian vice-captain to go all guns blazing. Rawal fell to Joyleen Kaur after being completely bamboozled by an extra bit of bounce that caught her in a very awkward position.
Despite the run flow being constricted at the other end, Mandhana’s high-octane batting fuelled India’s aggression enough to force Hong Kong into changing their bowling frequently. She brought up her 36th half-century in sparkling fashion, hammering Iqra Sahar through backward square leg for a maximum. As time went by, Mandhana simply doubled down on her charge.
Richa Ghosh (11) did get a start but before she could come into her destructive avatar, a mistimed slog sweep ended up in the hands of Marina Lamlough off her own bowling. Harmanpreet Kaur (10) also looked to be in control initially but couldn’t really get going on a surface that had its fair share of shenanigans.
Mandhana kept on striking clinically at the other end, bringing up her second WT20I century in just 57 balls. She rocked Marina Lamplough past point to raise her bat and rewrite the record books in stunning manner. With her 2nd WT20I century, she went past the likes of Laura Wolvaardt and Meg Lanning to register 18 international centuries, the highest by any woman ever across all formats of the sport.
She also leapfrogged her former India captain and legend, Mithali Raj’s tally to become the leading women’s run-scorer in international cricket. Mandhana had no intentions of relenting as she battled till the final over, only to fall for a rampant 124 from just 64 balls. Out of India’s 19 fours and nine sixes throughout the innings, Mandhana struck 14 fours and seven sixes, absolutely decimating Hong Kong before Iqra Sahar could get in the decisive throw to run her out.
India concluded their innings at 193/5 from 20 overs. Marina Lamplough was the leading bowler for Hong Kong with figures of 2/46. Despite not having a significant contribution from the other batters, Mandhana’s innings was more than enough to leave Hong Kong unsettled.
Hong Kong had an extremely slow start and the equation started spooking them further when they lost Mariko Hill (0) in the second over of the innings. Nandani Sharma had an excellent setup as she started her spell with three outswingers before following that with an inch-perfect good length inswinger that cannoned through Hill’s defences.
Miles (15) and Yasmin Daswani (11) did try to knit together some resistance but the scoring rate never really came close enough to what was required. A 27-run stand for the second wicket was broken by Deepti Sharma as Bharti Fulmali took a great catch at short mid-wicket.
From thereon, it was only a nosedive into an endless spiral for Hong Kong as they kept on losing wickets at regular intervals. Miles, Daswani and Marina Lamplough (14) were the only ones to get into double figures while the others could only extend Hong Kong’s fight to a certain extent.
A collective show from the Indian bowlers knocked out Hong Kong for just 56 runs, allowing India to register a historic win in Dubai. Deepti Sharma claimed a three-fer to leapfrog Thailand’s Thipatcha Putthawong and become the leading wicket taker in WT20Is with 174 wickets.
Sharma had great support from Prema Rawat, Nandani Sharma and Sree Charani as they all claimed two wickets apiece to derail Hong Kong’s ambitions. Smriti Mandhana bagged the Player of the Match award for her scintillating show with the bat.
