Sri Lanka Makes a Stunning Victory In Women’s Asia Cup

Shilpa Rajan July 29, 2024

Sri Lanka, went on to defeat the Asian giant India and won the Women’s Asia Cup, After an exciting win over Pakistan in the semi-finals.

Sri Lanka Lost Toss

The final was played at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium. Indian Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and opted to bat first in the big final.

Both Indian batters started well and gave a steady start to the Indian innings. Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma took command of the innings and scored 44 runs in the powerplay. Shafali lost her wicket right after the powerplay to Kavisha Dilhari.

Fine start by Indian Mandhana and Shafali:

While other Indian batters were struggling against the Lankan bowlers, Smriti Mandhana kept going and brought up her fifty in just 36 balls. She was well supported by Jemimah Rodrigues, and India was on track for a solid finish. However, in the 17th over, both Jemimah and Mandhana got out, and suddenly things changed. Richa Ghosh, who has been doing this job well for a long time. She helped the Indian team finish well with her small cameo of 30 runs, which came in just 14 balls. Team India finished at a total of 165 for 6. Kavisha Dilhari was the highest wicket-taker, taking 2 wickets.

Sri Lanka Chased Like Champions:

A target of 166 surely looked like a good total in a final game, and with the kind of start the Lankan team got, the Indians were surely looking like favorites. However, skipper Chamari Athapaththu and Harshitha Madavi were up for the task. Both batters batted beautifully and silently took the game away from the Indian team.

After the first wicket fell at just 7 runs, these two batters put up an 87-run stand for the 2nd wicket. Chamari was dismissed for a well-made 61 off 43 balls. Her innings were very much enough to take the Indian team out of the game. Harshitha also brought up her half-century in the 17th over, and Sri Lanka chased down the total in the 19th over. Both Harshitha and Kavisha remained not out at 69 and 30 runs respectively. They took their team to an 8-wicket victory.

Harshitha Samarawickrama was awarded the Player of the Match for her unbeaten 69, while Chamari Athapaththu was awarded the Player of the Series for her stellar performance throughout the tournament.