India Women seek a cleaner batting effort against Hong Kong in Dubai

India top Group A on net run rate but arrive at their second Asia Cup match with a middle order that folded once already
India Women face Hong Kong Women in the seventh match of the Women's Asia Cup at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Thursday, starting at 8:00 PM in India.
India lead Group A with two points from one match and a net run rate of +4.700, built on a 94-run win over Thailand in their opening game.
Hong Kong, China sit fourth on nil points after losing their own opener to Thailand by six runs, and are still looking for their first result of the tournament.

A collapse the margin hid
Shafali Verma struck 64 off 36 balls and was named player of the match as India moved to 108 for 2 against Thailand.
India closed on 159 for 9. Seven wickets fell between those two scores, accounting for Harmanpreet Kaur, Shafali, Richa Ghosh, Deepti Sharma, Bharti Fulmali, Prema Rawat and Nandni Sharma.
Smriti Mandhana had already gone cheaply to a run-out, and Pratika Rawal and Richa Ghosh both failed to convert their starts.
Thailand were then dismissed for 65, which turned a modest total into a heavy win and left the batting question unanswered.
Harmanpreet did not dress it up afterwards. "Our batters, we sometimes didn't play good shots, but credit to Thailand for bowling in the areas where it wasn't easy to hit," the India captain said. "They bowled well, and we also didn't execute very well."

Deepti Sharma's evening at the other end
The bowling gave India no such cause for concern.
Deepti Sharma took 3 for 0 in 1.1 overs on the day she played her 150th T20 international, ending the Thailand innings in a single spell.
Seamers Nandni Sharma and Kranti Gaud had struck early, and Thailand never recovered from the opening exchanges.
Harmanpreet singled out both senior players afterwards. "Shafali is someone who gets crucial runs for us and has good rhythm and Deepti is someone with a lot of experience and today also she used that experience," she said.
She was careful not to read too much into the margin. "All the teams playing in the Asia Cup have shown a lot of improvement, so we can't take any team lightly," she said.

Hong Kong found a bowler in Dubai
Hong Kong's defeat was closer than the group table suggests.
Chasing 121, they finished on 114 for 7, six runs short, after Thailand had posted 120 for 9 on the back of captain Naruemol Chaiwai's 43 off 31 balls.
Marina Lamplough was the pick of the attack with 4 for 11 from her four overs, and Alison Siu took 3 for 37.
Lamplough then top-scored in the chase with 22 from 11 balls, and Kary Chan made 28 from 20.
A repeat of that discipline would ask India's middle order the same question it failed to answer against Thailand.

Where Thursday will be decided
The Dubai surface has offered early movement to the seamers and enough grip later for spin to carry weight.
That pattern suits N Sree Charani, who has taken 22 wickets in her last ten matches at an economy rate of 6.21.
India also carry Radha Yadav, Arundhati Reddy and Renuka Singh in a squad with enough bowling to cover any surface.
Hong Kong's batting rests largely on Natasha Miles and Mariko Hill, who have made 242 and 210 runs respectively across their recent matches.
India's form belongs to Shafali, whose 282 runs in ten matches have come at a strike rate of 154.94.


Conditions and coverage
Dubai will be hot through the afternoon before the temperature settles near 33 degrees at the 8:00 PM start.
Rain is not a factor, with the chance of precipitation put at around five per cent.
The match is on Sony Sports Network in India, and streams on the Sony LIV app and website.
India will start Thursday top of the group, with Hong Kong still searching for their first points of the tournament.