All four semifinalists of the Women’s Asia Cup 2024 were confirmed on Wednesday when Sri Lanka registered a thumping win over Thailand in the last group game of the tournament. 

Chamari Athapaththu’s Lankan side is the only other team apart from defending champions India to have registered a hat-trick of wins as they eased past their Thai opponents unscathed with 10 wickets in hand in Group B. The Lankan side was asked to chase a paltry score of 94, which they hunted down with their skipper leading the charge unbeaten on 49. Vishmi Gunaratne also returned back not out on 39 as her team won the game in 11.3 overs.

This means that the four semifinalists of the tournament have been set in stone. India and Pakistan had already qualified from Group A when the Women in Blue made light work of Nepal with an 82-run win. 

The defending champions topped Group A and will meet the second-ranked team of Group B Bangladesh in the first semifinal, while Group A runners-up Pakistan will face the Group B toppers Sri Lanka in the other semifinal. Notably, Bangladesh are the only other team to win the continental showpiece in women’s competition apart from India.

Both the knockout games are lined up on the same day July 26, Friday. The India vs Bangladesh semifinal will take place from 2 PM onwards, while the Pakistan vs Sri Lanka clash will be held later from 7 PM onwards. The final of the tournament is slated to take place on Sunday, July 28.

Thailand had an outside chance of reaching the semis. They needed to upset Sri Lanka by a decent margin to pip Bangladesh on NRR and take their second spot. But that could not be as Athapaththu’s team was too hot to handle for the minnows.

Kavisha Dilhari took two wickets with Achini Kulasuriya, Sugandika Kumari, Priyadharshani and the skipper herself scalping a wicket each. Thailand were restricted to 93/7 in their 20 overs with with wicketkeeper batter Nannapat Koncharoenkai the only one putting up a noteworthy contribution but she took 53 deliveries to make 47.

--Agencies