Women's Asia Cup: India ride on top-order show to beat Bangladesh by 59 runs
Sylhet (PTI): Shafali Verma once again showed her match-winning prowess with an attractive 55 off 44 balls as India out-batted Bangladesh by 59 runs to win their fourth match and clinch a semi-final spot in the Women's Asia Cup T20 here on Saturday.
After an indifferent batting show in the defeat against Pakistan, the 'Women In Blue' put up a much-improved performance scoring 159 for 5, largely due to a 96-run opening stand between Shafali and stand-in skipper Smriti Mandhana (47 off 38 balls).
Credit should also go to Jemimah Rodrigues, whose 35 not out off just 24 balls helped the Indian team score nearly 160.
Bangladesh managed 100 for 7 at the end of 20 overs and never looked like being in the hunt for a victory.
With 8 points from five games, India are on top of the seven-team table with a match left in the round-robin stage.
Having never chased a total beyond 142 in their entire T20I history, Bangladesh did try their bit but could never force the momentum against a solid Indian bowling attack which kept things tight.
After a shoddy fielding effort against Pakistan, it improved by a couple of notches on the day as there were no easy runs in store. The hosts couldn't even score 50 in the first 10 overs and scoring more than 110 runs in the back-10 was virtually impossible for them.
None of the Indian bowlers were off target for the better part with Sneh Rana (1/17 in 3 overs) and Deepti Sharma (2/13 in 4 overs) being parsimonious as ever. Even Shafali's loopy leg breaks (2/10 in 4 overs) seemed unplayable.
The slowness of the track also meant that spinners could vary the pace and most of the balls were not coming onto the bat.
The two openers Fargana Hoqie (30 off 40 balls) and Murshida Khatun (21 off 25 balls) could add only 45 in the first nine overs and Bangladesh actually were thrown out of the contest at that stage.
Earlier, Shafali showed why she is one of the most destructive batters in this format as she struck five fours and two huge sixes. En route to her fourth half-century in T20Is, Shafali also completed 1000 runs in the format.
With the elegant skipper Mandhana for company, the duo added 96 in just 12 overs. Mandhana as usual peppered the field with six crisp boundaries.
Once both Mandhana and Shafali, who tried a reverse slog, were dismissed, Bangladesh could briefly put brakes on scoring but the in-form Jemimah used her cricketing smarts to find the gaps as she and Deepti Sharma added 29 in just 2.3 overs to set a challenging target
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
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.
