Bangkok, Feb 15 (IANS) India A brushed aside Pakistan A by eight wickets in their Group A clash of the Women’s Asia Cup Rising Stars on Sunday. After bundling out Pakistan A for 93 in 18.5 overs, India A chased down the modest target in just 10.1 overs at the Terdthai Cricket Ground.

Right-handed opener Vrinda Dinesh smashed 55 off 29 balls to lead India A’s pursuit after Saima Thakor (2-14), captain Radha Yadav (2-11) and Prema Rawat (2-16) shared six wickets between themselves to set up the foundation for the defending champions to get their first win of this competition.

Minnu Mani and Jintimani Kalita also had one scalp each for India ‘A’. Their chase began shakily with Humairaa Kaazi dismissed off the first ball by Waheeda Akhtar. But Vrinda and Anushka Sharma counterattacked, as India A raced to 63-1 by the end of the powerplay.

Though Anushka fell for 24 in the ninth over, Vrinda marched forward to reach her fifty off 25 balls in a knock where she hit 12 boundaries before being dismissed by left-arm spinner Momina Riasat in the ninth over. Tejal Hasabnis sealed victory for India ‘A’ in style by hitting a six and four, respectively, as they completed the chase with 59 balls to spare.

Previously, after opting to bat first, Pakistan were reduced to 21/4 inside five overs as Saima struck twice with the new ball. Radha tightened the squeeze after the powerplay, removing Huraina Sajjad and Shawaal Zulfiqar in successive overs to leave Pakistan reeling at 41/6.

A brief stand of 25 between Gull Rukh (21) and Anosha Nasir (17) lifted the total, but the last two wickets added only 15 runs as Pakistan folded for 93.

Just like how the trend has been in India-Pakistan meetings in the last 12 months, both sides chose against shaking hands yet again at toss time.

India A, after losing to the UAE in their opening game, have moved to second spot in Group A. They face Nepal in their final group match on Tuesday, with the top two sides advancing to the semi-finals.

Brief Scores: Pakistan A 93 all out in 18.5 overs (Shawaal Zulfiqar 23, Gull Rukh 21; Radha Yadav 2-11, Saima Thakor 2-14) lost to India A 97/2 in 10.1 overs (Vrinda Dinesh 55, Anushka Sharma 24; Momina Riasat 1-13, Waheeda Akhtar 1-18) by eight wickets.

–IANS

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