New Delhi: India won their seventh Women’s Asia Cup title after a dominating performance against Sri Lanka. After some runouts and soft dismissals, Sri Lanka could only post 65/9 on a spin-friendly track. After getting a breakthrough with a runout, Renuka Thakur managed to pick three wickets while Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Sneh Rana picked two each.
Sri Lankan skipper Chamari Athapaththu, who could have been the biggest threat to India, got dismissed off an accurate throw from Renuka. Three wickets from Renuka Thakur and two runouts in the powerplay set the stage for India. Deepti Sharma bowled with the new ball and ended her four overs after giving just seven runs while Gayakwad and Sneh Rana struck with spinning traps. Sri Lankan batting was full of poor shot selection and soft dismissals.
While India too lost two wickets in the powerplay, Smriti Mandhana showed her class and played a cracking inning to chase down the total. In form Inoka Ranaweera and Kavisha Dilhari dismissed India’s two in form batters Shafali Verma and Jemimah Rodrigues. But it was Mandhana’s 51* off just 25 balls that led India to the victory. Smriti ended the affairs in style with a four and a six.
India has found some good combinations for the upcoming T20 World Cup and giving chances to every player in the squad proved to be the right strategy. Jemimah coming back from injury and Shafali being not in form were solved during the tournament while Deepti Sharma showed her golden arm and received the Player of the Tournament award. Sri Lanka’s 1-run victory in the semis would have given them some confidence and having players to stand up on tough occasions is something Aththapathu’s side found during the Asia Cup.
