Sri Lanka secured their first Women’s Asia Cup on July 28, and in the final match, the team confidently dominated defending champions India. The ultimate match, which was played in front of home fans, witnessed their captain Captain Chamari Athapaththu and Harshitha Samarawickrama giving a treat to the viewers through their terrific performance, helping Sri Lanka emerge victorious by eight wickets.
This triumph is especially important in the island’s women’s cricket history, as this is the very first occasion that the team has won a Women’s Asia Cup title. The victory also marks the second time in tournament history that India failed in the finals of the tournament as they have been pretty dominant throughout. Before that, the last time India had come out with a semi-final loss was in 2018 in Kuala Lumpur against Bangladesh.
Indian Batting: A Mixed Bag
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Earlier in the match, Smriti Mandhana scoring 60 off 47, fought and her half-century showed some mettle to the Indian side besides the useful contributions from Jemimah Rodrigues, 29 off 16 with three fours and a six, and Richa Ghosh, 30 off 14 with four fours and a six. This took the team to a decent total of 165 for six. Mandhana gave a splendid performance with the bat, especially when she was up against a slow surface, which she countered with scoops and shuffles.
However brilliant a knock that was for Mandhana, the Indian innings would again be stifled by the slow wicket and good Sri Lankan bowling. Shefali Verma, who came to bat at No. 3 and made 16 off 19 balls, found it hard to get on the rhythm, and her wicket along with Harmanpreet Kaur and Uma Chetry left the Indian team in trouble. Some of the Sri Lankan bowlers kept the Indian batsmen on a tight leash.
The slow pitch proved more appropriate to their all-pace spin bowling line-up, which only has one pacer in the person of Udeshika Prabodhani. The Indian batters particularly felt the heat of the spinners, where Verma perished and Mandhana got a life when Dilhari missed a chance.
The middle overs also saw Mandhana and Rodrigues take the fourth wicket partnership of 41 runs off 25 balls. For this reason, the run-out of Rodrigues and the dismissal of Mandhana meant that India was in a very vulnerable position at 133 for five. Ghosh came a bit late, but she used her opportunity by scoring a quick-fire six containing a powerful slog-sweep, yet it did not make a difference in victory.
Sri Lanka in a Dominant Display
Thus, in the last over of the Indian innings, the score was set at a formidable total of 166/8. But Sri Lanka finally chased down the total with relatively comfortable looks, thanks to Athapaththu and Samarawickrama, at 167 for two in 18. Their combination proved vital, where Athapaththu opened and scored 50 in 33 balls, and Samarawickrama came in and scored a more consolidated 50 in 43 balls.
While Athapaththu and Samarawickrama were partners both professionally, the two could not have been more different. whereas Athapaththu expressed more attacking instinct, Samarawickrama was the rock of certainty and composed shot-making. It was clear to see the authority that the former had as she added boundaries freely without much fuss, especially to left-arm spinner Tanuja Kanwar, where she dispatched two fours and a six in the first over.
On the other hand, Samarawickrama played the innings right and cashed in on the freedom that she got to rotate the strike and collect as many runs as possible, especially the sweep six off Radha Yadav when the Lankan side was dominating the match. Just when it looked like India was on its way to doing something extraordinary, a brief moment of respite for Deepti Sharma, who bowled Athapaththu around her legs, ended the Asia Cup dream of the Indian team for the third time.
Samarawickrama, together with Kavisha Dilhari, formed the third cricketing partnership of 73, which was earned from the final 40 balls in the match to clinch Sri Lanka’s victory.
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