IND W vs SL W, Women's Asia Cup: Harmanpreet Kaur-led Team India were so far unbeaten in the Women's Asia Cup, securing one-sided wins one after the other. However, the unit failed to replicate their performance when it mattered the most as Chamari Athapaththu's Sri Lanka humbled the favourites by seven wickets in the final played at Dambulla on Sunday.
India, who won the toss and opted to bat, managed a challenging 165 for 6 in 20 overs. However, a superb batting effort by the Sri Lankan skipper along with Harshitha Samarawickrama ensured the hosts that they chase down the total with eight balls to spare.
The Lankan chase, however, didn't begin on a great note as opener Vishmi Gunaratne was run-out for 1(3) in the second over. However, Athapaththu and Samarawickrama stood tall against a strong bowling line-up, making it completely ineffective. The pair added 87 runs for the second wicket, with both batters slamming their respective half-centuries.
Athapaththu had a superior strike-rate between the two as she smashed 61 in 43 balls, which featured nine boundaries and two maximums. Samarawickrama returned unbeaten on 69 off 51 deliveries and wrapped the proceedings with Kavisha Dilhari, who smoked 30 in just 16 balls.
Deepti Sharma was the lone wicket-taker and unlike the previous matches, every bowler conceded runs at an economy of over 7 runs per over. Radha Yadav in particular was hammered brutally as the spinner leaked runs at 11.8 runs per over, conceding 47 runs in her full quota.
Many also felt the outcome could have been different had Harmanpreet grabbed a sitter by Samarawickrama in the 16th over of the Lankan chase. Sri Lanka at the start of the over required 43 off 30 deliveries and the wicket could have added the much needed pressure on the opposition.
Harmanpreet kaur was shouting on others and dropping a catch herself... pic.twitter.com/xbBNJxLwAR— KufuPandya (@HardiK33x) July 28, 2024
Earlier the opening pair of Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana gave India a decent start as they added 44 runs in 6.2 overs, before Shafali got dismissed for 16(19). Mandhana scored 60 off 47 deliveries, but failed to find a similar support from her teammates, especially the captain Harmanpreet, who fell cheaply for 11 in the same number of deliveries.
Jemimah Rodrigues and Richa Ghosh produced a bit of cameos, with the former scoring 29 off 16 before getting run-out. Richa smashed 30 off 14 deliveries.
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