Historic achievement! Harmanpreet Kaur becomes India women's leading run-getter in T20Is, trails only one globally

India led by Harmanpreet Kaur won their second game on the trot in the Women's Asia Cup 2024. They first defeated Pakistan by seven wickets and then defeated UAE by 78 runs in their second game on Sunday.

UAE won the toss and opted to bowl against India. In the process, they paid the price as India piled up a mammoth 201/5. Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (66 off 47) and Richa Ghosh (64* off 29) were the chief contributors with the bat. Shafali Varma scored 37 opening the batting. Smriti Mandhana fell rather cheaply for 13.

Most T20I Runs For India Women's

Harmanpeet Kaur- 3415

Smriti Mandhana-3378

Mithali Raj- 2364

Most runs in Women's T20Is:

4348 - Suzie Bates (159 Inns)
3415 - Harmanpreet Kaur (152 Inns)
3405 - Meg Lanning (121 Inns)
3378 - Smriti Mandhana (133 Inns)
3338 - Stafanie Taylor (118 Inns)

En route to 66, Harmanpreet Kaur became the top-scorer for India in Women's T20Is getting past Smriti Mandhana. Kaur is now on 3415 runs while Mandhana is second-highest with 3378 runs. Former Indian women's skipper Mithali Raj is the third-highest run-getter for India with 2364 runs.

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Harmanpreet Kaur went past Mandhana's tally in her 171st T20I for India. She is also the most capped T20I player in India in men's and women's cricket. Mandhana is closing in on her and has played almost 40 fewer games than her.

After doing a good job with the bat, the Indian bowlers then stepped up and restricted UAE to 123/7. India used five bowlers with every bowler picking up at least one wicket. Deepti Sharma the Indian all-rounder picked up two. Tanuja Kanwar who replaced Shreyanka Patil in the Indian squad picked up a wicket.

India Women's side headed into this tournament as the defending champions of the Asia Cup. They have won the tournament seven times and have made a good start towards winning their eighth title.

Harmanpreet Kaur was out of the field for a while and in her post-match presentation speech said that she was fine. She lauded her players for playing the way they did in the match and ensured a convincing win for India.

Harmanpreet Kaur On Her Innings

"Yeah I'm absolutely fine (she was off the field towards the end). Great feeling. When Jemi and I were batting, we spoke that we had to run hard rather than just going for risky shots. Our focus was on getting 7-8 runs per over. When Richa came, I just told her to keep watching the ball and see how wicket is playing. She batted beautifully. My role was just to stay on the pitch and keep rotating strike. Whenever loose balls come, convert them to the boundary" said Kaur.

She also praised Richa Ghosh for her quickfire knock and admitted that it was due to her knock that India went past 200. The keeper-batter hit 12 fours and a six in her-29-ball stay at the crease striking at a strike rate of 220.

"Credit to Richa. Because of her we reached the target. Special innings for me (anniversary of her knock against Australia). Great memory overall whenever we talk women's cricket in India. It always gives me positive vibes" Kaur concluded saying.

With two wins, India are topping their group with a healthy NRR of +3.298. The final league game is against Nepal on Thursday.

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