Dominant India crush Thailand by 74 runs to enter women's Asia Cup final
Sylhet (PTI): A dominant India crushed minnows Thailand by 74 runs to storm into the final and remain on course for a record-extending seventh women's Asia Cup title here on Thursday.
The win over Thailand took India to their eighth straight Asia Cup final - four each in ODI and T20 formats. Before 2012, the tournament was a 50-over-a-side affair.
The semifinal contest against Thailand was always expected to be a cakewalk for India and it turned out to be so. India posted 148 for six after being sent in to bat and then restricted Thailand to 74 for 9 in the lop-sided contest.
Chasing the target, Thailand were never in the hunt as they lost wickets at regular intervals.
The Thai women, however, fared much better than their previous outing against India in the league stage, where they were crushed by nine wickets.
In that match, the Indians bundled out Thailand for just 37 runs in 15.1 overs and then chased down the target with consummate ease.
On Thursday, the Thai women gave a better account of themselves with the bat despite being reduced to 21 for 4 in the eighth over.
Deepti Sharma (3/7) did most of the damage with her off-spin, picking up the first three Thai wickets -- Nannapat Koncharoenkai, Natthakan Chantham and Sornnarin Tippoch -- in consecutive overs.
Medium pacer Renuka Singh (1/6) then cleaned Chanida Sutthiruang as Thailand's chase fell apart.
Captain Naruemol Chaiwai (21) and Nattaya Boochatham (21) showed some resistance with the bat with a 42-run stand for the fifth wicket but the asking rate was too tall. In fact, they were the only two Thai batters to register double digit scores.
Once the duo departed, the Indian bowlers just ran through Thailand lower-order batting line-up.
Rajeshwari Gayakwad (2/10), Shafali Verma (1/10) and Sneh Rana (1/16) were the other wicket takers for India.
Earlier, invited to bat, Shafali Verma was at her destructive best, top-scoring for India with a 28-ball 42 with the help of five boundaries and one hit over the fence.
Together with vice-captain Smriti Mandhana, Verma shared 38 runs in 4.3 overs before the former hit a low full toss from Phannita Maya straight to Onnicha Kamchomphu at mid on.
Verma continued her attacking batting but was the next batter to depart, miscuing off-spinner Sornnarin Tippoch's flighted delivery to Thailand skipper Naruemol Chaiwai at short midwicket.
Most of the dismissals were gifts to Thai bowlers as the Indian batters were guilty of giving away their wickets after getting starts.
Jemimah Rodrigues (27) was the next to loft one straight to Rosenan Kanoh at long-on off Thipatcha Putthawong.
Tippoch then had two wickets in successive overs to reduce India to 132 for 5 in the 18th over.
First, she caught wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh plumb in front of the wicket and an over later, got the big wicket of skipper Harmanpreet Kaur as the batter tried to clear the cover boundary.
Harmanpreet, who returned to lead the side after missing out two matches due to a niggle, looked in good nick and laced her 30-ball 36 with four hits to the fence.
Towards the end, Pooja Vastrakar hit a quick 13-ball 17 with the help of a six to take India close to the 150-run mark.
Sornnarin Tippoch was the best bowler for Thailand with figures of 3/24.
India had made three changes from their last match playing eleven with Harmanpreet, Renuka Thakur and Radha Yadav coming in for S Meghana, Meghna Singh and Kiran Navgire.
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AIITA welcomes Karnataka’s ban on obscene songs in school events
Bhatkal: The Karnataka unit of the All India Ideal Teachers Association (AIITA) has welcomed the Karnataka government’s decision to strictly ban school children from dancing to obscene songs during educational and cultural programmes in government, aided, and private schools across the state.
AIITA Karnataka State President M. R. Manvi congratulated the government for taking what he termed an important step to preserve the sanctity of education.
“Such decisions to safeguard the dignity of school children and uphold the values of education are the need of the hour. This rule should not be limited to government schools alone but must be strictly implemented in all private educational institutions as well,” he said.
He further urged the government to address other concerns within school programmes.
“The government should not only prohibit obscene dances in the name of school anniversaries, but also ensure that plays and dialogues that incite religious hatred are avoided. Schools should be centres of harmony, not platforms for spreading hatred,” he added.
According to a recent circular issued by the Department of School Education and Literacy, obscene dances are adversely affecting the mental health and moral values of students.
In this regard, schools have been advised to use songs that promote nationalism, positive thinking, the greatness of Kannada culture, and value-based traditions instead of inappropriate content during programmes.
The circular also emphasises that students should be dressed in decent attire.
AIITA also backed the department’s warning that disciplinary action would be taken against head teachers if such guidelines are violated. The association has further demanded that district Deputy Directors of Public Instruction strictly monitor the implementation of these rules.
