Dambulla, July 23: Opener Shafali Verma's scintillating half-century (81 off 47 balls) coupled with Dayalan Hemalatha's 47 powered India to 178/3 against Nepal in the Group A match of the Women's Asia Cup at Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium here on Tuesday.

Stand-in skipper Smriti Mandhana opted to bat first after winning the toss as India rested regular captain Harmanpreet Kaur and Pooja Vastrakar for the match.

Shafali and Hemalatha showed no mercy from the beginning of the match. The 20-year-old made her intentions clear in the first over by hitting two fours against Kabita Kumwar's first over. She continued the onslaught from the one end while Hemalatha held the other end strong.

Shafali made sure that boundaries came at regular intervals and showed no mercy to any Nepalese bowler in the middle. Her ferocious batting took India to 50/0 at the end of the Power-play. Shafali flexed her arms and hit Rubina Chhetry for a six on a full toss in the seventh over as she switched gears. In no time, she brought up her 10th T20I half-century off 26 balls in the eighth over.

The youngster didn't look back and intensified her attack as Nepal looked clueless to break the partnership. However, they had a chance to send Hemalatha back to the pavilion in the 12th over but captain Indu Barma dropped the catch at long-off.

In the 14th over, Sita Rana Magar finally got hold of Hemalatha (47) as Rubina Chhetry made no mistake at long-on to give India the first blow of the match. Shafali also got a respite in the next over before finally getting out on 81. She struck 12 fours and a six during her 48-ball knock.

Sajeevan Sajana and Jemimah Rodrigues came together for a brief 23-run partnership and steered the side to the 150-run mark. Sajana (10) failed to extend her stay in the middle as she was trapped lbw by Kabita Joshi in the 19th over. In the end, Rodrigues showed her attacking prowess and hammered quickfire 28* off 15 balls studded with five fours while Richa Gosh remained unbeaten on six off three balls as India posted 178/3 in 20 overs.

For Nepal, Sita Rana Magar bagged two wickets and returned with the figures of 2-25 in her four overs.

Brief scores:

India 178/3 in 20 overs (Shafali Verma 81, Dayalan Hemalatha 47; Sita Rana Magar 2-25) against Nepal.

--IANS

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