Women's Asia Cup: Dominant India crush Thailand by 74 runs to enter final

The win over Thailand took India to their eighth straight Asia Cup final -- four each in ODI and T20 formats. Before 2012, the tournament was a 50-over-a-side affair. The semifinal contest against Thailand was always expected to be a cakewalk for India and it turned out to be so. India posted 148 for six after being sent in to bat and then restricted Thailand to 74 for 9 in the lop-sided contest. Chasing the target, Thailand were never in the hunt as they lost wickets at regular intervals. The Thai women, however, fared much better than their previous outing against India in the league stage, where they were crushed by nine wickets.

In that match, the Indians bundled out Thailand for just 37 runs in 15.1 overs and then chased down the target with consummate ease. On Thursday, the Thai women gave a better account of themselves with the bat despite being reduced to 21 for 4 in the eighth over. Deepti Sharma (3/7) did most of the damage with her off-spin, picking up the first three Thai wickets -- Nannapat Koncharoenkai, Natthakan Chantham and Sornnarin Tippoch -- in consecutive overs. Medium pacer Renuka Singh (1/6) then cleaned Chanida Sutthiruang as Thailand's chase fell apart. Captain Naruemol Chaiwai (21) and Nattaya Boochatham (21) showed some resistance with the bat with a 42-run stand for the fifth wicket but the asking rate was too tall. In fact, they were the only two Thai batters to register double digit scores. Once the duo departed, the Indian bowlers just ran through Thailand lower-order batting line-up. Rajeshwari Gayakwad (2/10), Shafali Verma (1/10) and Sneh Rana (1/16) were the other wicket takers for India. Earlier, invited to bat, Shafali Verma was at her destructive best, top-scoring for India with a