Kuala Lumpur: Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (27 runs and three wickets) delivered a solid all-round performance as the Indian women’s cricket team defeated Thailand by 66 runs in the Asia Cup T20 tournament, here Monday.
Put in to bat, India posted 132/4 in 20 overs before restricting Thailand to 66/8 to record a second successive big win and stay at the top of the points table in the six-nation tournament.
It was another good show by the Indian. The entire top-order batting contributed with Mona Meshram (32, 45b, 2×4) emerging top scorer. However, by T20 standards her innings was very slow.
It was Kaur (27 n o, 17b, 3×4), who like in the last match against Malaysia, gave impetus to the Indian innings. Others who batted well were Smriti Mandhana (29, 22b, 1×4, 2×6) and Anuja Patil (22, 21b, 2×4).
Kaur (3/11) than did the job with the ball as well and her efforts helped her bag the player of the match award. Deepti Sharma (2/16) also bowled well.
For Thailand, Nattaya Boochatham top-scored with a 40-ball 21 but the slow knock was hardly what the team needed in the slam-bang format.
After a rest day Tuesday, India will take on Bangladesh in their third match of the tournament.
Brief Scores: India women: 132/4 in 20 overs (Mona Meshram 32, Harmanpreet Kaur 27 not out, Smriti Mandhana 29, Wongpaka Liengprasert 2/16) beat Thailand: 66/8 in 20 overs (Nattaya Boochatham 21, Harmanpreet Kaur 3/11, Deepti Sharma 2/16) by 66 runs.