Nepal captain Indu Barma hands Buddha’s statue as a ‘Token of Love’ to Smriti Mandhana after Asia Cup game
Nepal Women's team captain Indu Barma presented Smriti Mandhana with a statue of Buddha as a ‘Token of Love’ after the Asia Cup game on Tuesday, July 23.
Team India faced Nepal in the 10th match of the Women’s Asia Cup T20 2024 at Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium. With Harmanpreet Kaur opting to rest, Smriti Mandhana captained India in their last group-stage match.
India batted first and got a fabulous start from openers Shafali Verma and Dayalan Hemalatha, as they stitched together a 122-run stand off 84 balls. Hemalatha scored 47 off 42 balls, while Shafali smashed 81 runs off 48 balls, hitting 12 boundaries and a six.
Jemimah Rodrigues played a brilliant cameo of 28 runs off 15 balls as India Women finished at 178-3 in their 20 overs. For Nepal, Sita Rana Magar bagged two wickets.
In response, Nepal never looked in the game as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals and eventually ended their innings at 96/9, losing by 82 runs. Deepti Sharma took three wickets for India.
Following the game, Indu Barma, gave Smriti Mandhana a statue of Buddha as a ‘Token of Love’ to symbolize the relationship between India and Nepal.
Indian Women will now be seen in action on Friday, July 26 in the semi-final match of Asia Cup 2024 in Dambulla.
“Proud of my team” - Indu Barma reacts as Nepal campaign comes to an end after defeat to India
Nepal Women started the tournament on a winning note by defeating the United Arab Emirates in their opening game. However, big losses to Pakistan and India meant they couldn't qualify for the semi-finals.
In the post-match presentation after the India game, the Nepal captain said:
“I am proud of my team. The effort we put in, we realised our weakness and will come back stronger. It was a great exposure to play against India. I am happy with my team, after 10 overs the bowlers got good momentum and restricted them to below 200."
We got good experience from this tournament by playing against India and Pakistan. We made some good memories,” she added.
India and Pakistan qualified for the semi-finals from Group A and might meet in the finals if they win against their opponents in the top four clash.