Spin duo of Shreyanka Patil and Mannat Kashyap starred with the ball after a sedate batting effort to guide the India U-23 team to the Women’s Emerging Asia Cup T20 title with a 31-run win over Bangladesh in the final on Wednesday.
Electing to bat, India first posted a modest 127 for seven before the bowlers rose to the occasion with Patil (4/13) and Kashyap (3/20) sharing seven wickets between them to bundle out Bangladesh for 96 in 19.2 overs. Off-break bowler Kanika Ahuja (2/23) also chipped in with two wickets.
It was complete spin show from the Indians with off-spinner Patil and slow left-arm orthodox Kashyap ruling the roost on a slow Mission Road Ground pitch. Sobhana Mostary and Nahida Akter scored 16 runs each, while Nahida Akter remained stranded on 17 not out for Bangladesh.
Earlier, Dinesh Vrinda (36 off 29) was the top-scorer for India while Kanika Ahuja remained unbeaten on 30 off 23 balls. It was a struggle for Indian batters as only four of them managed double digit scores with Bangladesh bowlers picking up wickets at regular intervals, not allowing India to build any substantial partnership.
Besides Vrinda and Ahuja, wicketkeeper U Chetry (22) and skipper Shweta Sehrawat (13) were the other two Indian batters to reach double digit scores.
For Bangladesh, slow left-arm orthodox bowler Nahida Akter (2/13) and off-spinner Sultana Khatun (2/30) picked up two wickets apiece. India progressed to the final after their semifinal against Sri Lanka was washed out without a ball being bowled on Tuesday. In a bizarre run of events, India played only one game in the run-up to the final, their opener against hosts Hong Kong, which they won by nine wickets.
India’s other three matches, including the semifinal against Sri Lanka, were washed out without a ball being bowled. In fact, rain played spoilsport throughout the tournament, forcing as many as eight games to be washed out.
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