Defending champs India beat arch rivals Pakistan to win their sixth Women's Asia Cup title

Women in Blue once again continued to roar loud in the T20 Asia Cup this year, as they defended their title for the sixth time in as many tournaments (first four Asia Cup tournaments were a 50-overs a side affair). India vs Pakistan on a Sunday afternoon is like a treat to all the cricket lovers across the country.

Winning all the league games, India entered the finals with oodles of confidence to take on Pakistan. Harmanpreet Kaur decided to bat first, early in the day, and thanks to the brilliant batting of Mithali Raj (73 not out off 65 balls), Kaur was not disappointed with her decision. Raj, who turned 34, just yesterday, struck her 10th half century, and led from the front to ensure that her team got to a respectable total. Mithali was aggressive right from the word go, hitting seven boundaries and a maximum in her well-constructed innings. Slow left arm bowler Anam Amin was the pick of the bowlers for Pakistan, picking up 2-24 in her four overs.

Defending 122 in a final can be slightly tricky, however Harmanpreet Kaur did a fantastic job in managing her troops. It was again the spinning tale narrated by Ekta Bisht, Anuja Patil and Preeti Bose that summed up India's win in the all-important final. Bisht shinned with the ball, accounting for 2-22 in her four overs and received good support from Patil (1-18) and Bose (1-18). It was a nail biting finish as the match went down the wire, with Pakistan felt wanting of 17 runs. Skipper Bismah Maroof top scored with 25 runs.

Mithali Raj (220 runs in 4 innings at an average of 110), who also won the Man of the Match award, finished off as the highest run scorer and with 12 wickets in 6 matches, right arm off-break bowler Sana Mir of Pakistan was the highest wicket-taker.

Indomitable India beats Nepal to enter the Women’s T20 Asia Cup Final

The young and new looking Indian team led by the dashing all-rounder Harmanpreet Kaur, reached the final of T20 Asia Cup by beating Nepal comprehensively on Friday.The Women in Blue have remained invincible in the tournament winning five out of five matches.

India played its final match of the league against the minnows Nepal and continued its winning streak by clinically outperforming the not so extra-ordinary Nepal team. Riding on Shikha Pandey’s (39 not out off 32 balls) heroics, India was able to post a decent total of 120-5 at the end of 20 overs.  In the second innings, Nepal was left clueless as its batting line-up collapsed like a pack of card for a paltry 21. Poonam Yadav was the pick of the bowlers picking up 3-9 and was well-complimented by Anuja Patil and Meghana, both of them, grabbing two wickets each.

Not only as a team, but also at the individual level, India has had a great run at the T20 Asia Cup so far. Mithali Raj is the leading run-getter (147 runs with an average of 73.5) and Ekta Bisht (4 matches and 8 wickets) is sitting comfortably at the top of the highest wicket-taker table.

Brief Scores: India Women 120-5 in 20 overs (S Pandey 39*, V Vanitha 21; R Belbashi 2-21) beat Nepal Women 21-10 in 16.3 overs (P Yadav 3-9, A Patil2-3, S Meghana 2-3) by 99 runs

India Women emerge victorious against Sri Lanka; remain invincible in the T20 Asia Cup

Having won their first three encounters of this T20 Asia Cup, Women in Blue, with oodles of confidence, took on their neighbours of south; Sri Lanka, on Thursday, at Bangkok, Thailand. Harmanpreet Kaur, skipper of the Indian team, won the toss and elected to bat first.  The opening pair of Raj and Mandhana provided a solid start to the team and a small cameo towards the end by Veda Krishnamurthy (21 runs off 23 balls) helped India to post a respectable 121-4 in 20 overs.

It was once again the spin magic of Ekta Bisht and Preeti Bose that helped the Kaur-led team to restrict Sri Lanka to 69-9, winning the match comprehensively by 52 runs. Bisht picked up 3-8 and Bose accounted for 3-14 in their full quota of four overs. India is right at the top of the table with four out of four wins. India will play Nepal in the last and final match of T20 Asia Cup on Friday at Bangkok, Thailand.

Mithali Raj was adjudged as the Man of the Match for her batting brilliance right at the top.

Brief Scores: India Women 121-4 in 20 overs (M Raj 62, S Mandhana 21, V Krishnamurthy 21) beat Sri Lanka Women 69-9 in 20 overs (D Manodara 20; E Bisht 3-8, P Bose 3-14) by 52 runs

India Women thrash Pakistan by five wickets in Asia Cup T20 match

Winning the toss and electing to field first, Women in Blue restricted the arch rivals Pakistan to 97-7 in 20 overs on Tuesday in the Asia Cup T20 match that was played at Bangkok, Thailand. The Indian spin trio of Ekta Bisht, Anuja Patil and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur laid the spin web to entangle Pakistan. Apart from the opening bat, Ayesha Zafar (28) and middle order bat Nain Abidi (37 n.o), rest of the Pakistani batting line-up looked listless.

Though chasing a humble 98 did not seem to be a daunting task, the match went all the way till the last over, with India just finishing the game in 19.2 overs. Veteran Mithali Raj provided a solid start to her team by making a patient 36 off 57 balls. Sadia Yousuf and Nida Dar chipped in couple of wickets apiece. A middle order collapse did not affect India’s chances in the game, as the captain, leading from the front, finished off the game in style with a quickfire 26. India won the match by five wickets and Harmanpreet Kaur was awarded the Man of the Match prize for her scintillating all-round performance.

Brief Scores: Pakistan Women 97-7 in 20 overs (N Abidi 37*, A Zafar 28, E Bisht 3-20) lost to Indian Women 98-5 in 19.2 overs (M Raj 36, H Kaur 26*, S Yousuf 2-27, N Dar 2-11) by five wickets

Women in Blue beat the West Indies in a thriller to seal the ODI series 3-0

Riding on the dashing middle order batswoman Veda Krishnamurthy’s heroics, team India managed to put up a respectable total of 199-6 on board against the West Indies in the third ODI that was played on Wednesday at Mulapadu, Andhra Pradesh.

Having already sealed the ODI series, the confidence in the Indian dressing room was at all time high and a clean sweep is what Mithali Raj and co were eyeing for. Though the home team did not get off to the best of starts with the Maharashtra batswoman Smriti Mandhana falling cheaply for 5, Deepti Sharma and the middle order played well to steady the sinking ship. Veda Krishnamurthy dominated the Caribbean bowling attack with her clean hitting.  Devika Vaidya joined the part with an unbeaten knock of 32.

The match went down the wire, with both the teams looking evenly poised to win the game. It was a close finish as the visitors fell short of just 15 runs. It was again the spin web of Rajeshwari Gayakwad that entangled the West Indian batting line up as she finished with economical figures of 4-21. Matthews and Knight played some good knocks, however failed to take their team home.

After the ODI series, both the teams are all set to play the T20 matches, starting 18^th November. It will be interesting to see how the Indian team under the aegis of young Harmanpreet Kaur, takes on the defending T20 champions West Indies.  

India Women take an unassailable lead of 2-0 against West Indies

The T20 champs descended to the Indian shores to play a three-match ODI series starting 10^th November at Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh.

The Indian Women registered a clinical victory in the first ODI, winning the match comfortably by six wickets. The spin duo of Ekta Bisht and Rajeshwari Gayakwad picked up seven wickets between themselves. Skipper Mithali Raj led from the front scoring a patient 91-ball 46-run knock and was complimented well with the dashing middle order bat Veda Krishnamurthy who made an unbeaten 52 off 70 balls. Earlier in the day, the Carribeans were bundled out for a humble 131 in 42.4 overs, with the wicket-keeper batswoman Merissa Aguilleira top scoring with 42 runs.

The Women in Blue were not complacent after the easy win in the first match and did not take the opposition lightly. Chasing a decent target of 154 runs, captain Mithali Raj was again among the runs, top scoring with 45 off just 51 balls helping her team take an unassailable lead of 2-0 against the visitors. Opening bat Smriti Mandhana provided a dream start to the chase making 44 off 62 balls. The south paw then partnered well with all-rounder Deepti Sharma (32 runs off 63 balls). Earlier in the day, the powerful batswoman from Barbados, Deandra Dottin played a powered packed innings of 63 runs, taking her team to a decent total.       

The last and the final game of the three-match ODI series will be played on 16^th November at Mulapadu, Andhra Pradesh.

Source: PTI

Succession planning starts in Indian women’s cricket team; Harmanpreet Kaur replaces Mithali Raj as the T20 skipper

When the talks of poor succession planning are doing the rounds in the corporate world, courtesy the Tata’s, the women’s cricket in India has quietly made the news by announcing the young and talented all-rounder Harmanpreet Kaur as the T20 captain replacing the veteran Mithali Raj, who will still be a part of the T20 squad.

Kaur has been acting as a deputy to Raj for quite sometime now and there cannot be a perfect time than this to hand over the T20 reins to this refreshing talent. With the West Indies tour of India and Asia Cup to be played in Thailand, November is a busy month for the women in blue.

A dismal performance in the T20 World Cup that was played in India earlier this year, should not let them down, instead, this can be labelled as a stepping stone. It is time for the young guns like Smriti Mandhana, Veda Krishnamurthy and Poonam Yadav to step up and fill the big shoes of Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami, who have been few of the greatest servers of Indian women’s cricket.

Like what happened in 2007 with the men’s team at the inaugural T20 under the guidance of the then 26 year old MS Dhoni, let’s hope that Harmanpreet Kaur is also able to infuse some energy in her team and aim for the coveted T20 World Cup in 2018.