New Delhi, India

Harmanpreet Kaur-led India faced Thailand Women in the first semi-final of the Women's Asia Cup 2022 edition, being held in Bangladesh, on Thursday (October 13). Being the favourites, India stormed past Thailand by 74 runs to book a place in the final. After entering the semi-final as the table-toppers in the group stage, with five wins and a solitary loss, India were asked to bat first. Shafali Verma's 28-ball 42 and vital contributions from Jemimah Rodrigues (27), Harmanpreet's 36 (30) and Pooja Vastrakar's 13-ball 17 propelled the Women in Blue to a moderate 148-6, at Sylhet. 

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It was a chaseable score but the inexperienced Thailand batters only managed a paltry 74 for 9 in their full quota of overs. Thailand were never in the run-chase with skipper Naruemol Chaiwai and Nattaya Boochatham being the highest run-getters, scoring 21 apiece.  From India's perspective, the likes of Deepti Sharma (3 for 7) and Rajeshwari Gayakwad (2 for 10) applied pressure from the word go by chipping in with key wickets and giving nothing away easily. 

With this result, India storm into the tournament finale and now await the winner of the second semi-final, where Pakistan face Sri Lanka, to lock horns with them in the summit clash on Saturday (October 15).  India have lost only to Pakistan in the tournament and will be eager to play them and settle scores in the marquee finale.

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At the post-match presentation, skipper Harmanpreet said, "We batted really well, Thailand bowled quite well, not giving us easy runs. We really had to work hard. That partnership (between her and Jemimah) helped us to get a score on the board. When you're not playing a lot, you need runs to get confidence. She (Deepti) is someone who is willing to bowl at any stage. Having such a bowler always gives confidence. When you're getting around 150 on the board more often than not, it gives confidence. Whoever makes it to the final, we'll make plans."

Shafali, who was adjudged the Player-of-the-Match, stated, "Lots of confidence (with the win). Wicket was good to bat, felt good. Smriti and Jemi also did well. We need to look at getting partnerships (regularly). Hope the weather stays good (for the final). I'm more confident about my game now, but will keep working. Always happy to contribute to the team."