Shafali shines as India enter semis despite rain

Shafali Verma during her 67 v Malaysia yesterday. Pic/PTI

Shafali Verma bullied an inexperienced Malaysian attack with a sparkling 39-ball-67 as India entered the semi-final of the women's cricket event at the Asian Games by virtue of better ICC rankings after Thursday's quarter-final was abandoned due to rain.

The match was reduced to 15 over-a-side affair and India scored an imposing 173-2, courtesy Shafali, skipper Smriti Mandhana's 27 off 16 balls, Jemimah Rodrigues' 29-ball-47. Richa Ghosh's 7-ball-21 cameo was like a cherry on top of the cake.

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It was going to be next to impossible for Malaysia to even think of surpassing 100-run mark let alone chase the target, which was revised to 177 as per DLS method.

Malaysia played only two deliveries before heavy rain played spoilsport and the match had to be called off. India are top-seeded Asian team in the competition as per their ICC ranking on June 1.

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