Dambulla, July 21 (IANS): Captain Harmanpreet Kaur hit a fine 12th T20I fifty, while wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh got her first half-century in the format to set the base for India’s comfortable 78-run over UAE in their second 2024 Women’s Asia Cup match at the Rangiri Dambulla International Cricket Stadium on Sunday.

On a fresh pitch with wind blowing across, India were in early trouble after losing three wickets in power-play. But Harmanpreet and Richa added 75 runs off 45 balls for the fifth wicket, as India made 201/5, the first time they posted a score above 200 in women’s T20Is.

It is also the highest ever score posted in the history of Women's Asia Cup in T20 format, surpassing the 181/4 which was also hit by India against Malaysia in 2022. Harmanpreet’s 66 off 47 balls, laced with seven fours and a six, steadied India’s ship.

It was followed by Richa applying perfect finishing touches with a whirlwind 64 not out off 29 balls, laced with 12 fours and a six, as India hit a blistering 37 runs off the last two overs. In reply, chasing 202 was never going to be an easy task for UAE, who ended up at 123/7, as all of India’s five bowlers picked at least a wicket.

UAE got few boundaries in the power-play, but in the absence of strike-rotation, they couldn’t get off to a blistering start. Renuka Singh Thakur took out a struggling Theertha Satish, who picked out mid-on to perfection, while Pooja Vastrakar got one to straighten past Rinitha Rajith’s outside edge and hit top of off-stump.

Deepti Sharma joined the wicket-takers’ list by having Samaira Dharnidharka whip straight to mid-wicket in the eighth over. Amidst increasing pressure on UAE, captain Esha Oza held one end aloft with her solid boundaries, including slog-sweeping Deepti Sharma for six, followed by lofting and whacking Radha Yadav for consecutive fours.

But her knock came to an end in the 13th over when debutant Tanuja Kanwer enticed her to come out for a drive, but was beaten on the outside edge and stumped by Richa Ghosh, giving the left-arm spinner her first international wicket on third attempt. From there, the result became a foregone conclusion as Radha Yadav and Deepti took a wicket each before a run-out ended UAE’s innings, as India sealed a big win.

Brief Scores: India 201/5 (Harmanpreet Kaur 66, Richa Ghosh 64 not out; Kavisha Egodage 2-36) beat UAE 123/7 (Kavisha Egodage 40 not out, Esha Oza 38; Deepti Sharma 2-23, Tanuja Kanwer 1-14) by 78 runs.