India’s stand-in captain in their Women’s Asia Cup 2022 match against Thailand, Smriti Mandhana led the team to a crushing 9-wicket win on Monday, in what was also her 100th T20I for the Indian women’s team.
The match which was played at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium, Bangladesh saw India Women captain Smriti Mandhana winning the toss and opting to bowl first. This resulted in the complete carnage of the Thailand team, which had recently defeated Pakistani women.
Thailand only managed 37 runs before being bowled out in 15.1 overs. Nannapat Koncharoenkai was the only one to reach the double-figures scoring 12 runs. For India women, Sneh Rana picked 3/9, while Deepti Sharma and Rajeshwari Gayakwad picked two wickets apiece.
In reply, India overhauled the target in 6 overs, losing Shafali Verma for 8 runs, but S Meghana remained unbeaten on 20 off 18 balls, while Pooja Vastrakar made 12* as India won by 9 wickets and 14 overs to spare.
After the match, captain Smriti Mandhana said: “Playing for India and playing the 100th T20, it's a special feeling. The girls made it special. This Indian team is a fun team to play with. Thailand played good cricket in this tournament. We were looking forward to come out and play. Our bowlers were brilliant. All the three batters did their job. We have the semifinal after two days. We'll be working hard, looking forward to go out and play that.”
(Star Sports inputs)
