Mithali Raj, the opener, missed out on a century, but her unbeaten 97 off 69 balls
formed the core of India's 169/3.The bowlers then ran through the Malaysian line-up, bundling them out for 27 in 13.4 overs.
Pooja Vastrakar, the young pace bowler, was the pick of the attack, finishing with
3/6 in her three overs.Poonam Yadav, the leg-spinner, took two wickets in two overs without conceding a run, while Anuja Patil, the off-spinner, returned 2/9.
No Malaysian batter got into double figures and six of them fell without opening
their account.Earlier, having chosen to bat, India lost Smriti Mandhana in the second over.
Vastrakar too fell after the Powerplay before she could build on a promising start.
Raj and Harmanpreet Kaur, the captain, then combined for an 86-run stand off
53 balls. While Kaur fell in the 15th over for a 23-ball 32 and the score on 121, if
was up to Raj to provide the final push.
She couldn't hit a boundary in the last two overs to get to the three-figure mark,
but finished with 13 fours and one six for the match. India are the defending champions of the tournament, which also features Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Thailand.(UNI)
