Women's Asia Cup: Fifties from Kaur and Ghosh take India to 201-5 against UAE

Dambulla: Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and Richa Ghosh smashed contrasting fifties to guide India to a record 201 for five against UAE in their second match of the ongoing women's Asia Cup T20 tournament here on Sunday.

While the 35-year-old Kaur looked in complete control as she blasted seven fours and a six during her 47-ball 66-run innings, playing the role of an anchor to perfection, Ghosh performed her designated role of a finisher to perfection in her unbeaten 29-ball-64.

She slammed as many as 12 boundaries and a maximum with five consecutive hits to the fence in the final over of the innings,bowled by Heena Hotchandani.

Kaur stitched two crucial partnerships, adding 54 off 39 balls with Jemimah Rodrigues and 75 off 45 balls with Ghosh to put India in a commanding position.

It was the first time India went past 200-run mark in women's T20Is.

Invited to bat, opener Smriti Mandhana (13) blasted a six and a four to give India a good start but an overambitious shot saw her being holed out at mid-off off Kavisha Egodage in the 3rd over.

Shafali Verma then produced some sensational shots, carting the bowlers for five fours and a six en route to a 18-ball 37 when she committed the mistake of edging a short and wide ball from seamer Dharnidharka Samaira as the keeper did the rest.

Hotchandani then cleaned up Dayalan Hemalatha (2) in the first delivery of the next over as India slipped to 52 for 3 inside the powerplay.

Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and Jemimah Rodrigues (14) then joined hands and kept the scoreboard ticking with the former doing the heavy lifting in the 39-ball 54-run stand, which put India across the 100-mark in the 11th over.

Once Rodrigues was dismissed by Egodage in the 12th over, Ghosh displayed her boundary-hitting prowess, using her cover drive to perfection to rack up 18 runs off Esha Oza's over with four boundaries.

Kaur reached her fifty in the 18th over and then clobbered two fours and a six off Samaira as India crossed the 180-mark.

While Kaur was runout next, Ghosh slammed five fours en route to her fifty in just 26 balls as the last over yielded 20 runs.