Kuala Lumpur, Dec 20: Left-arm spinner Aayushi Shukla picked a brilliant four-wicket haul to set the base for India entering the final of the U19 Women’s Asia Cup with four-wicket win over Sri Lanka at the Bayuemas Cricket Oval on Friday.

Aayushi, who picked three wickets in India’s previous Super Four win over Bangladesh, clinched figures of 4-10 and play a pivotal hand in restricting Sri Lanka to 98/9 in their 20 overs.

She was well supported by fellow left-arm spinner Parunika Sisodia, taking two wickets, while Shabnam Shakil and Drithi Kesari took a scalp each, as barring Manudi Nanayakkara’s 33, none of the Sri Lanka batters managed to reach 25.

In the chase, despite losing Ishwari Avasare and Sanika Chalke early, G Trisha and G Kamalini ensured India’s quest for chasing down 99 was on track. Trisha, a member of the India team that won the 2023 Women’s U19 T20 World Cup, made a 24-ball 32 while sharing a 63-run stand with G Kamalini, who made a 26-ball 28.

But Sri Lanka came back into the match as Chamudi Munasinghe dismissed Trisha, while Shashini Gimhani took out Kamalini in successive overs. India’s slide continued as captain Niki Prasad and wicketkeeper Bhavika Ahire fell cheaply.

But a calm and composed Mithila Vinod struck four boundaries, including the winning runs, to be not out on 17 off 12 balls and complete India’s chase in 14.5 overs. Aayushi was eventually named Player of the Match for her four-fer.

India will now set to meet the winner of the Bangladesh-Nepal Super Four game in the title clash of the inaugural edition of the tournament happening at the Bayuemas Cricket Oval on Sunday.

Brief Scores: Sri Lanka 98/9 (Manudi Nanayakkara 33; Aayushi Shukla 4-10) lost to India 102/6 (G Trisha 32, G Kamalini 28; Chamudi Munasinghe 3-16, Shashini Gimhani 2-18) by four wickets

--IANS

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