Shafali's T20I best blasts India into the semi-final

Shafali Verma's career-best 81 and a disciplined bowling effort propelled India into the semi-finals of the Women's Asia Cup 2024 with an 82-run win over Nepal. With three wins from three games, India topped Group A. Pakistan, who defeated UAE earlier in the afternoon, were the second team to advance to the knockouts, with two wins out of three.

Opting to bat first, the Smriti Mandhana-led India posted 178 for 3 thanks to Shafali's breezy knock and a solid opening stand with D Hemalatha. It was an uphill task for Nepal, who don't play under lights and, against an in-form bowling attack, they could only manage 96 for 9 in 20 overs.

With the semi-final spot almost in the bag, India rested their regular captain Harmanpreet Kaur and allrounder Pooja Vastrakar and gave some game time to S Sajana and Arundhati Reddy. There was also a change at the top of the order, with India promoting Hemalatha to open with Shafali. The openers took their time to assess the conditions and several loose deliveries went unpunished early on. But soon enough Shafali found her feet and accelerated. The same cannot be said of her opening partner on the day.

After an unbeaten 41 against Bangladesh in April in her comeback game, Hemalatha had crossed 30 only once in the next eight innings across ODIs and T20Is before Tuesday. This however was a golden opportunity for Hemalatha to cement her spot in the XI, batting against an Associate team on a slow surface. She did get a few good shots away thanks to a strong bottom hand, but in general struggled to find her timing in a 42-ball 47.

Shafali, on the other hand, capitalised on the Nepal bowlers' struggle to find the right line and length. She used her feet and wrist well to flick, hit straight drives down the ground, slog sweep to deep midwicket and, overall, played with good intent. India finished the powerplay on 50 for 0 and Shafali brought up her tenth T20I fifty in the eighth over, off just 26 balls. At the halfway stage, India were 91 for 0 and looked set to breach the 200-run mark again.

However, Nepal's experienced left-arm spinner Sita Rana Magar pulled things back and removed Hemalatha and Shafali in the 14th and 16th over respectively. Shafali ended her knock with 12 fours and a six, and the duo's 122-run partnership was the highest opening stand across editions of the Women's T20 Asia Cup and the second-highest for any wicket.

India's scoring rate slowed down when the new batters came in but Jemimah Rodrigues' clever batting, which fetched her five fours in her 15-ball 28 not out, helped India get close to 180. Sajana, like Hemalatha, also struggled in her 12-ball stay. Whether India persist with Hemalatha or give more opportunities to Sajana at No. 3 is something to keep an eye on, leading up to the T20 World Cup in October.

An injury to Titas Sadhu opened the door for Reddy to get back with the Indian squad, following impressive performances in domestic cricket and the WPL. In the limited opportunities she has got since her comeback against South Africa last month, Reddy has stepped up to the challenge. Against Nepal, she delivered again, picking up 2 for 28 in her four overs. Having worked on her variations and the ability to swing the ball both ways in the last 12 to 15 months, Reddy struck off her fourth delivery, bowling opener Samjhana Khadka. She went for 11 runs in her second over, but fought back to dismiss Magar for a 22-ball 18 with a delivery that seamed back in to hit the middle stump.

Nepal were rocked early in the chase, and never really recovered.