Ahuja and Patil star as India A win Women's Emerging Teams Asia Cup

The spin duo of Shreyanka Patil and Mannat Kashyap starred with the ball after a sedate batting effort to guide the India A team to the Women's Emerging Teams Asia Cup title with a 31-run win over Bangladesh A in the final in Mong Kok.

Electing to bat, India A first posted a modest 127 for 7 before the bowlers rose to the occasion with Patil (4 for 13) and Kashyap (3 for 20) sharing seven wickets between them to bundle out Bangladesh A for 96 in 19.2 overs. Off-break bowler Kanika Ahuja also chipped in with two wickets.

It was complete spin-show from the Indians with off-spinner Patil and slow left-arm orthodox Kashyap ruling the roost on a slow Mission Road Ground pitch. Sobhana Mostary scored 16, while Nahida Akter remained stranded on 17 not out for Bangladesh A.

Vrinda Dinesh was the top-scorer for India with 36 off just 29 balls while Ahuja remained unbeaten on 30 off 23 balls. It was a struggle for Indian batters as only four of them managed double-digit scores with Bangladesh A bowlers picking up wickets at regular intervals, not allowing India to build any substantial partnership. Besides Vrinda and Ahuja, wicketkeeper Uma Chetry (22) and skipper Shweta Sehrawat (13) were the other two Indian batters to reach double figures.

For Bangladesh, slow left-arm orthodox bowler Nahida Akter (2/13) and off-spinner Sultana Khatun (2/30) picked up two wickets apiece.

India progressed to the final after their semifinal against Sri Lanka was washed out without a ball being bowled on Tuesday.

In a bizarre run of events, India played only one game in the run-up to the final, their opener against hosts Hong Kong, which they won by nine wickets. India's other three matches, including the semifinal against Sri Lanka, were washed out without a ball being bowled. In fact, rain played spoilsport throughout the tournament, forcing as many as eight games to be washed out.