Propelled by half-centuries from Jemimah Rodrigues and Deepti Sharma, India recovered from early setbacks against UAE to post a challenging total of 178/5 in the ongoing Women’s Asia Cup 2022 here at the Sylhet Outer Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.
Rodrigues carried her bat through with a brilliant 75 not out and Deepti (64) played a superb knock to set the UAE a daunting chase.
Smriti Mandhana replaced Harmanpreet Kaur as the captain after Kaur was rested for the game.
Opting to bat first, India did not get to a good start as UAE bowlers drew first blood in the very first over when Richa Ghosh was dismissed by UAE’s captain Chaya Mughal on the fifth ball of the innings.
Deepti Sharma was promoted to number three and the batter made excellent use of the opportunity smashing a half-century for India.
Sabbhineni Meghana, however, was dismissed in the fourth over leaving the Indian team at 17/2. Dayalan Hemlata walked out to bat with Mandhana opting not to come to the crease, giving the youngsters an opportunity to showcase themselves.
However, Hemlata was soon run out owing to her lacklustre running between the wickets leaving India tottering at 19/3.
The in-form Jemimah walked out at number five hoping to steady India’s ship and provide the innings with much-required impetus.
Senior pros Deepti and Jemimah then unleashed a flurry of strokes to give India momentum which had been missing until now.
Both batters partnered to exploit the inexperienced UAE bowling line-up to stitch a 129-run partnership off just 81 balls.
The experienced duo got to their respective half-centuries in the process and ensured India got to an excellent total. Deepti Sharma was dismissed in the 18th over in an attempt to up the run rate.
Kiran Navgire and Pooja Vastrakar played quick cameos to take India’s total to 178/5.
Jemimah remained unbeaten and played a superb knock of 75 studded with 11 eye-catching boundaries. For UAE, Mahika Gaur was the outstanding bowler who picked up a wicket and ended with 1/27 from her four overs.
Brief Score: India 178/5 (Jemimah Rodrigues 75, Deepti Sharma 64; Mahika Gaur 1/27 vs UAE) (
