Asia Cup: India Women Set Record Total as Harmanpreet, Richa Shine in Big Win Over UAE

India’s women’s cricket team made history on Sunday, July 21, by achieving their first-ever 200-plus total in a T20I match. Under the leadership of Harmanpreet Kaur, the team scored 201/5 against UAE Women in the ongoing Asia Cup, resulting in a dominant 78-run victory.

Previously, India’s highest score in a women’s T20I was 198/4 against England in 2018. This recent total also set a new record for the highest score in the Women’s Asia Cup, surpassing their previous best of 181/4 against Malaysia in 2022.

The charge was led by Shafali Verma, who scored a quick 37 off 18 balls. Captain Kaur followed with an impressive 66 off 47 balls, while Richa Ghosh concluded the innings with a remarkable unbeaten 64 off just 29 balls.

Kaur’s innings also saw her surpass Meg Lanning to become the second-highest run-scorer in Women’s T20I history, with 3,415 runs compared to Lanning’s 3,405. Suzie Bates leads the list with 4,348 runs.

Ghosh’s strike rate of 220.64 is now the highest for India in a 50-plus run innings, breaking Smriti Mandhana’s previous record of a 204 strike rate during her 25-ball 51 innings in the 2022 Asia Cup final against Sri Lanka. Additionally, Ghosh’s 64 not out is the highest score by an Indian wicketkeeper in women’s T20Is and in the Asia Cup history.

In their chase, UAE struggled to keep up with the required run rate, managing only 31 runs in the powerplay with the loss of two wickets. UAE’s captain Esha Oza scored 38 off 36 balls, and Kavisha Egodage contributed with 40 off 32 balls.

For India, Deepti Sharma claimed 2/23, while Renuka Singh, debutant Tanuja Kanwar, Pooja Vastrakar, and Radha Yadav each took one wicket. India restricted UAE to 123/7 in 20 overs.

After the match, Captain Kaur praised Player of the Match Richa Ghosh, saying, “When Richa came, I told her to keep watching the ball and she batted beautifully. My role was to stay on the pitch and keep rotating the strike. We had a good partnership, especially with Richa. Credit goes to her.”

India’s next match is against Nepal Women on July 23.