Smriti Mandhana powers India into Asia Cup semi-final with record 124
Smriti Mandhana slayed a host of records in her 64-ball 124 as India marched into the Women's Asia Cup semi-final with a dominating 137-run win over Hong Kong here on Thursday.
India raced to 193 for five following a second T20 hundred from Mandhana, who also surpassed Mithali Raj (10868 runs) to become the leading run-getter in Women's Internationals and Meg Lanning for most hundreds (18) across formats.
The wide gulf between India and Hong Kong, playing their first Asia Cup since 2012, was clearly visible as the latter struggled to 16 for one in the powerplay, effectively putting the stiff target out of their reach. Hong Kong eventually ended at 56 all out in 16.2 overs.
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.
Earlier, Mandhana 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, making her the only Indian to do so, 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 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.
Notwithstanding the limitations of the Hong Kong bowlers, Mandhana made batting look easy on a surface where batters took time to get going. Her opening partner Shafali Verma was also slow to get off the blocks before cutting loose in the last over of powerplay that went for 22 runs.
Hong Kong tried to trap Mandhana with a wide line but the seasoned India opener was hardly bothered by that tactic.
"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.
Pratika Rawal (10 off 12), playing at number three in her debut T20 series, could not accelerate and was caught at cover.
India captain Harmanpreet Kaur (10 off 9) and Richa Ghosh (11 off 13) perished while attempting an aerial stroke.
