India 193 for five (Mandhana 124, Lamplough 2-46) beat Hong Kong 56 (Deepti 3-9) by 137 runs
A second straight loss meant Hong Kong will solely have some satisfaction to play for, as a berth within the subsequent spherical is now out of the equation.
India’s cautious begin
Shafali steps up
Lamplough struggled for consistency and saved looping the ball up, with Shafali needing no second invitation. The primary of the 2 sixes was a shovel over deep midwicket; the subsequent even higher – lofted inside-out over deep further cowl.
Shafali’s transient surge ended on 28 within the eighth over, when Marina took a wonderful catch operating in and diving full stretch from long-on off Ruchita Venkatesh’s bowling. By then, the openers had placed on 74.
Mandhana prances in direction of document century
Her subsequent fifty got here off simply 18 deliveries. The century may’ve been nipped within the bud had she been taken at deep sq. leg within the sixteenth over off Siu Wai, however she accelerated much more quickly after mentioning her century that helped her climb atop the record for many worldwide tons of in ladies’s cricket.
Within the 18th over, she clobbered Venkatesh for 3 consecutive sixes, and in the identical over additionally went previous Mithali’s document for many worldwide runs. This helped India end strongly, the second half of their innings introduced them 107 regardless of dropping a clutch of wickets.
Nandani’s dream run continues
Coming off a three-for in opposition to Thailand, Nandani Sharma’s seam presentation and management was immaculate with the brand new ball as Hong Kong crawled to 4 for 1 in 4 overs. The wicket, off Mariko Hill, one among their most skilled batters, got here off an outstanding in-ducker on the again of three successive away-swingers. Nandani added yet one more wicket to her kitty to complete with 2 for six off her three overs.
The collapse
The best partnership of the innings was the 27 between Yasmin Daswani and Natasha Miles for the second wicket; a interval the place they hardly threw any warning to the wind, selecting as a substitute to bat overs and acquire some match time in opposition to an opponent they have been taking part in for the primary time in 14 years.
The partnership ended when Daswani’s try and heave into the leg aspect was intercepted by a leaping Bharti Fulmali at midwicket to present Deepti Sharma a wicket. Six balls later, Miles was out trying to chop Prema Rawat’s sharp leg break, nicking behind to Richa Ghosh.
That was the beginning of the collapse, as India’s spinners closed in, every one getting onto the scorecard with a bagful. There have been eight single-digit scores, with 15 the very best. They misplaced their final 5 wickets in 11 deliveries, collapsing from 54 for five to 56 all out.
India could not have requested for a neater route into the semi-finals.
Shashank Kishore is a senior correspondent at Cricinfo
