That’s all from the one-sided semifinal between India A Women and Sri Lanka A Women, with Girls in Blue securing their place in the summit clash of the event. It’s time to conclude this coverage, folks! For now, it’s me, Deepak Prakash, signing off on behalf of my colleagues, Ninaad Dixit and Dushyant Madhukar Kumar. CHEERS!
Radha Yadav (POTM & India A Women Captain): "It feels good. After the first 10 overs, the way we bowled and made a comeback was really pleasing. I had to step in and bowl those crucial overs at the end, which were very important.
Their batters were going hard at us, but TK and Minnu bowled well, Prema’s maiden in the 19th over was outstanding, and Saima chipped in too. It was truly a collective effort. Vrinda has been playing proper cricketing shots right from the start of the tournament, and we’re really happy she’s scoring big runs. Hopefully, she’ll carry this momentum into the final as well. We want to play positive, dominant cricket and perform to our full potential — that’s what we aimed to do, and we’re glad it paid off."
Player of the Match: Radha Yadav
Anushka Sanjeewani (Sri Lanka A Women Captain): "We batted really well in the first 10 overs but couldn't continue the momentum till the end, 20-30 runs short on the board.
We tried to play positive cricket. We need to put good score on the board because Indians are really good batters but hard luck.
We tried to bowl good line and lengths. We were too short and dropped few catches as well.
Couple of players really played good cricket. We want to sit together and talk about our positives and see what we can do for the next tournament."
10:40 AM IST, 12:10 PM Local Time: A comfortable victory for India A Women in the first semifinal of Women's Asia Cup Rising Stars 2026, securing their place in the grand finale of the tournament. They win by 5 wickets, with 39 balls to spare.
Earlier, India’s spin attack delivered a commanding performance to restrict Sri Lanka A Women to 118 after the latter chose to bat first. The Sri Lankan openers started positively in the powerplay but were dismissed in successive overs, finishing the phase at 47/2. Sanjana Kavindi anchored the innings with a patient 31 off 35 balls. The momentum shifted firmly in India’s favour once the spinners took control. Prema Rawat was outstanding with 2/9, including a maiden in the 19th over. Radha Yadav, despite briefly leaving the field with a knee injury, returned to claim 4/19 and struck twice in the final over to seal the innings. Tanuja Kanwar (2/20) provided solid support, while Minnu Mani and Saima Thakor chipped in with a wicket each. Shashini Gimhani’s 22 off 17, featuring the only six of the innings, was the other notable contribution for Sri Lanka A. In reply, India A Women lost Nandini Kashyap for 13 off 16 balls, but Vrinda Dinesh and Anushka Sharma scored briskly from the outset to set the tone for the chase. Vrinda was the aggressor of the pair, but she couldn’t bat through the innings and was run out for 40 off 20 balls. She was soon followed by Anushka (27), as India A lost both set batters in quick succession. Tejal Hasabnis departed for just 3 runs, courtesy of a stupendous catch in the deep from Sathya Sandeepani, and Minnu was run out for one run, but Radha Yadav’s brisk and unbeaten 27 runs ensured India A crossed the line with 39 balls to spare. Shashini Gimhani bagged a couple of wickets for Sri Lanka A, while Yasanthi Nimanthika celebrated a solitary wicket.
Stay tuned for the presentation......
OVER 14
India A Women
119/5
Radha Yadav
31(18)
Madiwala Mamatha
0(1)
Yasanthi Nimanthika
1-17(1.3)
13.3 Y Nimanthika to R Yadav
4 FOUR RUNS! Good length outside the off stump. Punched through the off side finding the gap between extra cover and mid off. No need to run for those. Admires the winning hit, handshakes all over as India A advance to the final!
13.2 Y Nimanthika to R Yadav
2 Short and wide outside off. Cuts off the backfoot to deep point. Overthrow at the striker's end allows the batters to come back for 2.