Women's Asia Cup: India need to fix batting frailties against Hong Kong

Dubai: India will need to sort out their batting frailties for a more complete performance when they face Hong Kong in their second match of the Women's T20 Asia Cup here on Thursday.

The seven-time champions, who won four Asia Cup titles in the ODI format and three in the T20 format, survived some anxious moments after a batting collapse in the second half of the first innings in their opening match against Thailand.

Sitting pretty at 101 for two after 10 overs, India were looking good for a 200-plus total but lost seven wickets for just 29 runs to finish at 159.


Although it did not affect the outcome of the match as India comfortably defeated Thailand by 94 runs, the collapse left them with a lot to ponder, as against a top team, it could prove costly.

However, Hong Kong being a minnow team, India will have more leeway to iron out their issues ahead of bigger battles, including against Pakistan in their last Group A game.

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For India, Shafali Verma shone brightly with a quick-fire 64, while Deepti Sharma too proved her mettle, taking three wickets without conceding a run to emerge as the highest wicket-taker in women's T20Is.

But Smriti Mandhana and Pratika Rawal, who was included in place of the injured Jemimah Rodrigues, will hope to convert their starts and give a better account of themselves.

Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur too will want to get back among the runs to address questions over her form and future in the shortest format.

After the Asia Cup, India will head into the Asian Games in Japan and will need to be at their absolute best before that, especially after a disappointing T20 World Cup campaign.

Hong Kong, on the other hand, suffered a narrow six-run defeat to Thailand in the tournament opener.

Chasing 121, they fell just short at 114 for seven. However, their bowling unit showed incredible grit, particularly pacer Marina Lamplough, who recorded stunning figures of 4/11.

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If Hong Kong are to put up a fight, Marina will have to find a way to keep India's explosive top order in check.

Kary Chan is another experienced all-rounder who showed intent with a quick-fire 28 off 20 balls in the first match and will need to anchor the middle order.

Teams:

India: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Bharti Fulmali, Richa Ghosh (wk), Gunalan Kamalini (wk), Pratika Rawal, Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Kranti Gaud, Prema Rawat, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh Thakur, Nandani Sharma, Shree Charani, Radha Yadav.

Hong Kong: Mariko Hill, Yasmin Daswani (WK), Maryam Bibi (C), Marina Lamplough, Kary Chan, Shanzeen Shahzad, Joyleen Kaur, Shing Chan Dorothea, Alison Siu, Charlotte Chan, Ruchitha Venkatesh, Natasha Miles, Iqra Sahar, Kaur Mahekdeep, Hailey Wong.