Women's Asia Cup 2024: Richa Ghosh makes history as india's score 200 for the first time?

Richa Ghosh made history with her stunning performance against the UAE in Dambulla, as India surpassed 200 runs in T20Is for the first time during the Women’s Asia Cup 2024 on Sunday, July 21. Richa became the first Indian wicketkeeper-batter in the Women’s Asia Cup to score a fifty, helping India finish strong. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur topped the innings with a score of 66, finishing as the highest scorer.

The UAE won the toss and chose to bowl first. India got off to a strong start with Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana, but Mandhana was dismissed quickly. Shafali continued her aggressive play, scoring 37 runs off just 18 balls, helping India reach 52 runs in 5 overs before she was dismissed. India faced a setback when Hemalatha was bowled by Hotchandani. However, Harmanpreet Kaur and Jemimah Rodrigues steadied the innings, with the Indian skipper playing the aggressive role.

The pair added 54 runs together before Jemimah was dismissed with more than 8 overs remaining. Richa Ghosh then stepped in and completely changed the game.

The Richa Ghosh performance

The Indian wicketkeeper began with a few singles before hitting a boundary to get her momentum going. In the 15th over, she smashed a six and then proceeded to hit UAE skipper Esha Oza for four boundaries in the next over.

Richa kept rotating the strike with her captain, quickly bringing up their 50-run partnership. At one point, it seemed India might fall short of 200 runs as Harmanpreet struggled to find her rhythm in the 19th over.

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However, the Indian skipper finished the over with a flourish, hitting two boundaries and a six off the last three balls. In the final over, Harmanpreet was run out due to a mix-up with Richa, but the wicketkeeper-batter made up for it by finishing strong.

Richa sent the last five deliveries to the boundary, remaining unbeaten on 64 off 29 balls with 12 fours and a six. India concluded their innings with 201 runs for the loss of 5 wickets in 20 overs.

The previous highest total for India in T20Is was 198 for 4 in 20 overs against England in Mumbai in 2018.