India ‘A’ ride on bowlers’ masterclass to emerge as champions of Women’s Emerging Asia Cup

India ‘A’ rode on a masterclass by the bowling unit to pick up a 31-run win over Bangladesh ‘A’ and emerge as maiden champions of the ACC Women’s Emerging Asia Cup in Hong Kong. 

Shreyanka Patil was yet again the most impressive of the bowlers, registering figures of 4/13 from her four overs, while Mannat Kashyap (3/20), Kanika Ahuja (2/23) and Titas Sadhu (1/14) combined to restrict Bangladesh to 96 in their chase of 128. 

India won the toss and opted to bat first, and while the top three batters all got starts, skipper Shweta Sehrawat (13) and Uma Chetry (22) fell inside the first half of the batting effort. Vrinda Dinesh, playing her first match of the tournament, looked very comfortable during her stay at the crease and manipulated the field well for her 29-ball 36 before she was dismissed in the 15th over. 

Wickets falling at regular intervals didn’t help India’s cause, but a handy 23-ball 30* from Ahuja eventually helped them get to127/7 from 20 overs.

Chasing 128 for victory, Bangladesh were dented early as they were in trouble at 29/3 at the end of the powerplay, with Kashyap accounting for two scalps and Shreyanka removing skipper Lata Mondal for 4. 

Bangladesh lost half of their side within the first 10 overs, giving India more than just a sniff towards winning the encounter. Nahida Akter (22-ball 17*) was the only Bangladesh batter who provided some resistance, with the Indian spinners running through the batting line-up and giving them no outlet for scoring runs. 

Sadhu dealt the final nail in the coffin as she had Marufa Akter caught by Ahuja, bringing about India’s win and setting wild celebrations in the camp.

While India made the final on the back of topping the table post a dominating win against Hong Kong, they were made to toil hard in the summit clash, but in the end, the young Indian brigade overcame dark clouds, a period of rain and a stern challenge from Bangladesh to highlight that the country’s cricketing future is in safe hands.  e