Dubai: India rode on vice-captain Smriti Mandhana’s record-breaking 124 off just 64 balls, her highest score in T20 Internationals, to thrash Hong Kong by 137 runs and enter the Women’s Asia Cup final here on Thursday.
India had earlier defeated Thailand by 94 runs in their tournament opener. Mandhana single-handedly powered India to 193 for five against Hong Kong.
The left-handed opener struck 17 fours and seven hits over the fence during her knock.
India pacer Nandni Sharma swung the ball both ways and got rid of opener Mariko Hill with a beauty. None of the batters were able to take on the Indian attack, showing their lack of exposure to top-flight cricket.
It was India’s second win in as many games and the overwhelming title favourites will take on Pakistan on Saturday.
“I didn’t know all of this happened,” said Mandhana when informed about her record-breaking effort.
“It’s really hard for me to play slower bowlers, but credit to them. They were really disciplined in the powerplay. They bowled pretty well, and the kind of energy they showed was something which we all can learn from. Having said that, I just love batting, and I’m happy that I could contribute.
“There are days where you hit balls from the stumps as well. There are days where you don’t, and there are days where you edge one from the fourth or fifth stump,” the southpaw added.
Earlier, Smriti Mandhana hammered a hapless Hong Kong bowling attack on her way to a record-breaking hundred as India raced to 193 for five in their Women’s Asia Cup match in Dubai on Thursday.
Mandhana (124 off 64) made up for a sedate start rather quickly and shared a 74-run stand with opening partner Shafali Verma (28 off 17) to set the tone for the innings.
The Hong Kong bowlers made life easier for the batters by offering too many loose balls.
Mandhana surpassed Australian legend Mag Lanning for most centuries in Women’s Internationals by getting to her 18th hundred across formats in the 17th over. Lanning has 17 hundreds to her name.
It was also Mandhana’s second T20 hundred and her innings comprised seven sixes and 14 boundaries. In the following over, Mandhana plundered a couple of sixes down the ground to go past Mithali Raj (10868 runs) in the leading run scorers’ chart. As she often does, Mandhana scored runs all around the ground and was at her regal self while hitting sixes over the bowler’s head.
