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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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
