The Radha Yadav-led India A won the second consecutive ACC Women's Asia Cup Rising Stars title with a convincing 46-run win against Bangladesh A at the Terdthai Cricket Ground, Bangkok. After Tejal Hasabnis’ unbeaten half-century, the bowlers put up a clinical show as Bangladesh found themselves well-short of the target. This is Bangladesh A’s second consecutive defeat in the final.
Slow start but Tejal & skipper get India to fighting total
In the final, Radha won the toss and opted to bat first. After a slow start, Vrinda Dinesh broke the shackles with three boundaries off Fariha Trisna's over. Meanwhile, Nandini Kashyap struggled to rotate the strike during the fielding restrictions. In the fifth over, Fatema Jahan knocked over an in-form Dinesh who scored 19 runs from 17 deliveries. India A were 32/1 after powerplay overs.
Just after the fielding restrictions were lifted, India lost two consecutive wickets. Kashyap got run out for a 15-ball 8. Then, Minnu Mani fell for a golden duck. On the first ball of the ninth over, Fahima Khatun knocked over Anushka Sharma for a single-digit score. India A were 53/4 at the halfway stage.
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In the middle overs, skipper Yadav and Hasabnis did damage control and built a partnership. In the 15th over, Hasabnis accelerated with two consecutive sixes off Easmin. Yadav joined the party with a six off Lata Mondal in the next over. India got past the 100-run mark in the 16th over. Fahima broke the partnership with Yadav's wicket. She scored 36 runs from 30 deliveries. In the same over, Tanuja Kanwer lost her wicket as well.
Boundaries dried up. In the penultimate over, Fahima ended her spell with Prema Rawat's wicket. She claimed a four-fer. In the final over, nine runs were scored including a boundary. Tejal completed her fifty as well. She remained unbeaten for a 34-ball 51 as India A posted 134/7.
No fight in the run chase
Bangladesh's run chase did not get off to an ideal start. Saima Thakor dismissed Ishma Tanjim. Shamima Sultana tried to accelerate with a couple of boundaries. Bangladesh A were 36/1 after powerplay overs. Then, Prema was introduced into the attack and she dismissed Shamima for a 16-ball 20. Yadav joined the party with Sarmin Sultana's wicket. She managed to score just 18 runs from 29 balls. Bangladesh A were 48/3 at the halfway stage as the required run rate climbed up.
Prema continued to spin a web and got Mondal stumped. In her final over, she got the wicket of Sadia Akter. Mani and Sonia Mendhiya got one wicket each as well. The only six of the innings came off Shorifa Khatun's bat. Bangladesh continued to collapse and were bowled out for 88 in 19.1 overs. They lost the final by 46 runs.