Not surprisingly, India brushed aside Thailand in their first Women’s Asia Cup 2026 encounter in Dubai. On paper, the 94-run victory looks to be an impressive one, yet there would be a sense of disappointment. Their batters, barring Shafali Verma (64 off 36), looked rusty and gave away cheap wickets. However, credit to Thailand for hanging on to their chances and restricting India to just 159/9.
India’s massive collapse
India could have been bowled out for under 150 as well, had the last wicket pair of Kranti Gaud and Shree Charani not added 22. However, from 108/2 in the 12th over, India managed just 50-odd runs in the remaining overs, losing seven wickets along the way, which is not what you expect from the tournament favourites.
“A collapse like that can happen to any side in T20 cricket. What truly matters is that we eventually reached 160 runs on the board, which was a competitive total,” India bowling coach Aavishkar Salvi said ahead of the Hong Kong game.
Can Hong Kong bounce back?
Hong Kong put up an impressive show against Thailand, but eventually fell short by six runs, after restricting the opposition to 120.
All eyes will once again be on all-rounder Marina Lamplough, who not just picked up 4/11 against Thailand but also smashed 22 off just 11 to give her side some hope. Barring her, Hong Kong will hope that their senior players like skipper Maryam Bibi and Mariko Hill step up to the plate and deliver against a formidable Indian side.
While the pacers have been more or less on par with the spinners in terms of wicket-taking, Chamari Athapaththu’s seven wickets on September 2 (Wednesday) against Indonesia showed that the spinners might have the edge from here on. However, the pacers will be key in making inroads, especially early on when there is a bit of movement on offer.
The team that makes the best of such conditions would certainly have the upper hand and potentially the two points at the end of the night.
With India’s big match against Pakistan next, this match provides them the opportunity to iron out the wrinkles and head into that clash with confidence and momentum.
Likely XI
India Women: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Pratika Rawal, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Bharti Fulmali, Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma, Prema Rawat, Shree Charani, Kranti Gaud, Nandni Sharma
Hong Kong Women: Mariko Hill, Yasmin Daswani (wk), Maryam Bibi (c), Marina Lamplough, Kary Chan, Shanzeen Shahzad, Joyleen Kaur, Shing Chan Dorothea, Alison Siu, Charlotte Chan, Ruchitha Venkatesh
Bench
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