Women's Rising Stars Asia Cup: Radha Yadav's all-round brilliance takes India A into the final

Bangkok: Skipper Radha Yadav produced an excellent all-round effort to power India A into the final of the Women's Rising Stars T20 Asia Cup with a five-wicket victory over Sri Lanka A here on Friday.

Sri Lanka elected to bat after winning the toss, but the decision backfired spectacularly. The Indian bowlers, led by Radha, ran through the line-up to bowl them out for a paltry 118.

The left-arm spinner returned with fine figures of 4 for 19.

She was ably supported by another left-arm spinner Tanuja Kanwar (2/20) and leg-spinner Prema Rawat (2/9).

For Sri Lanka, opener Sanjana Kavindi (31, 35b) offered a token fight.

The Lankans were placed at 71 for two in the 10th over but could not counter the Indian spinners from that point, losing the remaining eight wickets for 47 runs in a little over nine overs.

The only bright spot in their innings was a 36-run alliance between Kavindi and fellow opener Hansima Karunaratne (14).

India did not have too many moments of worry during the chase, apart from losing three wickets for 21 runs at ne stage. That included top-scorer Vrinda Dinesh (42).

But with Radha making an unbeaten 31 off 18 balls with seven fours, India sauntered past the rages in 13.3 overs.

In the final, India will face the winner of the other semifinal between Bangladesh and Pakistan which will be played later in the day.

Brief scores: Sri Lanka A Women: 118 all out in 19.4 overs (Sanjana Kavindi 31; Radha Yadav 4/19, Prema Rawat 2/9, Tanuja Kanwar 2/20) lost to India A Women: 119/5 in 13.3 overs (Vrinda Dinesh 42, Radha Yadav 31 not out; Shashini Gimhani 2/33) by 5 wickets.