In the women’s Asia Cup T20 tournament, hosts Sri Lanka and Bangladesh defeated Malaysia and Thailand with ease on Wednesday to advance to the semifinals.
At the same site, earlier in the day, Bangladesh crushed Malaysia by 114 runs, while Sri Lanka destroyed Thailand by 10 wickets in the tournament’s last group encounter.
With opener Murshida Khatun scoring 59 off 59 balls and captain Nigar Sultana scoring 37 off 37 balls, Bangladesh amassed a dominant 191 for 2 in the first game of the day.
By choosing to bat, Khatun and wicketkeeper Dilara Akter (33) combined for 65 runs on the first wicket, and then the former and Sultana stitched another 89 runs for the second wicket, laying the groundwork for the large total.
After that, Bangladesh easily defeated Malaysia, restricting them to 77 for 8 in 20 overs, securing their spot in the semifinals.
Thailand chose to bat in the tournament’s last group encounter, however they were only able to generate 93 for 7.
With a 47 off 53 balls, wicketkeeper batsman Nannapat Koncharoenkai top-scored for Thailand.
Of the bowlers for Sri Lanka, off-spinner Kavisha Dilhari (2/13) was the favourite.
With captain Chamari Athapaththu (49 not out) and Vishmi Gunaratne (39 not out) leading the island nation home with a resounding victory, the chase was a piece of cake for Sri Lanka.
As the Sri Lankan openers cruised to victory, not a single bowler from Thailand was able to have any sort of effect.
On Friday, Pakistan will play Sri Lanka in the semifinals, and the reigning champions, India, will play Bangladesh.
