India 193 for 5 (Mandhana 124, Lamplough 2-46) beat Hong Kong 56 (Deepti 3-9) by 137 runs
Smriti Mandhana filled her batting coffers with her second T20I century, along the way surpassing Mithali Raj for the record for most runs in women's internationals, to help India secure a second straight win on Thursday night in Dubai.
Hong Kong's nerves showed on the field when they fell flat at the first sign of attack from India's batters, and their timid approach in the chase further exposed the gulf in quality and experience. In the end, they lost by 137 runs - 13 more than what Mandhana managed on her own.
A second straight loss meant Hong Kong will only have some pride to play for, as a berth in the next round is now out of the equation.
India's cautious start
At the end of five overs, India were 38 without loss - not concerning, but not dominating enough either. They took a while to suss up the lack of pace from the bowlers. Mandhana hogged much of the strike; Shafali Verma faced just six balls in the first five overs. Hong Kong couldn't have been happier at having kept a lid on the scoring.
Shafali steps up
After a tight first over that went for just seven, offspinner Marina Lamplough was clobbered by Shafali for two fours and two sixes in a 22-run over that helped India take off.
Lamplough struggled for consistency and kept looping the ball up, with Shafali needing no second invitation. The first of the two sixes was a shovel over deep midwicket; the next even better - lofted inside-out over deep extra cover.
Shafali's brief surge ended on 28 in the eighth over, when Marina took an excellent catch running in and diving full stretch from long-on off Ruchita Venkatesh's bowling. By then, the openers had put on 74.
Mandhana prances towards record century
As new No. 3 Pratika Rawal took a while to gauge the pace of the surface, Mandhana reached her half-century - her 36th in T20Is - off 40 deliveries with a flat six over deep square. Mandhana's default setting for much of this period was moving over to the off-side to set herself up for several variations of the slog in the arc between wide long-on and deep square.
Her next fifty came off just 18 deliveries. The century could've been nipped in the bud had she been taken at deep square leg in the 16th over off Siu Wai, but she accelerated even more soon after bringing up her century that helped her climb atop the list for most international hundreds in women's cricket.
In the 18th over, she clobbered Ruchitha Venkatesh for three consecutive sixes, and in the same over also went past Mithali's record for most international runs. This helped India finish strongly, the second half of their innings brought them 107 despite losing a clutch of wickets.
Full report to follow
