Smriti Mandhana, Renuka shine as India wallop Bangladesh by 10 wickets, enter Women's Asia Cup final
Dambulla, Jul 26: Pacer Renuka Singh's three-wicket burst followed by Smriti Mandhana's brisk unbeaten fifty underlined India's ruthless performance as the defending champions walloped Bangladesh by 10 wickets and marched into their record-extending ninth women’s Asia Cup final, here on Friday.
India will face the winner of the second semifinal between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, in the title clash on Sunday.
Shafali (26 not out, 28b, 2x4) and Mandhana (55 not out, 39b, 9x4, 1x6) were on song from the word go, as India overhauled the target of 81 without breaking a sweat.
India ended up at 83 for no loss in 11 overs.
Mandhana and Shafali's knocks were filled with trademark shots around the ground as India motored to 46 for no loss in the Power Play.
Shafali, who was dropped on 21 off Rabeya Khan, played those powerful heaves across the line to find the fence.
Mandhana, at the other end, unfurled those exquisite drives on the off-side, such as the one the left-hander played through the covers against pacer Marufa Akter.
Mandhana also displayed her power while pulling pacer Jahanara Alam for a six over deep square leg as India trotted to a victory that was a long-forgone conclusion once Bangladesh were limited 80 for eight.
Renuka (3/10) upfront and left-arm spinner Radha Yadav in the middle overs (3/14) rattled Bangladesh with excellent spells.
In fact, Bangladesh hardly recovered from the deep wounds inflicted by Renuka in the first six overs.
Renuka, who bowled four overs on the trot during her 3/10 spell, received ample support from left-arm spinner Radha Yadav (3/14) after Bangladesh elected to bat first.
Renuka struck in the first over itself, dismissing Dilara Akter, whose slog sweep did not have enough power in it to clear Uma Chetry at deep mid-wicket.
In her next over, Renuka got the better of Ishma Tanjim with a delivery that stayed close to her body and a mistimed whip across the line was grabbed by Tanuja Kanwar at short third.
Renuka bagged her third wicket in as many overs with a slightly short of length delivery that Murshida Khatun slapped straight to Shafali at midwicket.
At 25 for three inside the Power Play segment, Bangladesh were falling apart fast and their real hope for a revival was the presence of skipper Nigar Sultana (32, 51b, 2x4), the third highest run-getter in the tournament.
Sultana hung around resolutely but even she could not offer a meaningful fight to the Indian bowlers, who gave away just seven runs across overs seven and 10 while losing Rumana Ahmed to Radha’s quick arm ball.
There was also hardly any backing for Sultana and the excellent line of Indian spinners on the day meant that the right-hander could rarely play her preferred sweep shot.
The Indians, on their part, fielded vastly better compared to the previous games and Shafali was particularly impressive.
Her forward-diving catch to oust Rabeya off pacer Pooja Vastrakar was from the top draw.
There was a good little partnership of 36 runs for the seventh wicket between Sultana, who was dismissed for the first time in this tournament, and Shorna Akter (19 not out, 18b, 2x4) but it came way too late to have any match-course altering effect.
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Allahabad High Court directs Centre to decide on Rahul Gandhi's citizenship by December 19
Prayagraj: The Allahabad High Court has instructed the Union Home Ministry to decide on a petition regarding Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's Indian citizenship. The Bench, led by Justice Attau Rahman Masoodi and Justice Subhash Vidyarthi, set a deadline of December 19, 2024, for the government to update the Court on the matter.
The petition, filed by S Vignesh Shishir, requests a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into allegations that Rahul Gandhi holds British citizenship. Shishir claims that evidence, including confidential emails shared by VSS Sarma, suggests Gandhi may be a British citizen. However, due to UK data protection laws, the British government has not disclosed full details without Gandhi's consent.
During the November 25 hearing, Deputy Solicitor General SB Pandey informed the Court that the Home Ministry is reviewing the representation. The Court directed the government to report on the status of the petition by the next hearing on December 19.
A similar petition challenging Rahul Gandhi's citizenship is pending before the Delhi High Court, where the matter will be heard after the Allahabad High Court's proceedings.
