Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat in the match
In the Asia Cup, Sri Lanka’s women’s cricket team reached the final for the first time in 14 years. In this match against India, Sri Lanka won the toss and decided to bat first, but this decision was not in their favor at all.
The Sri Lankan team could only manage 65 runs for nine wickets in the match and India achieved the target in 8.3 overs. Smriti Mandhana scored an unbeaten 51 off 25 balls. Sri Lankan captain Chamari Atapattu was run out in the third over after which the wickets fell. Anushka Sanjeevani was also run out after six balls. Renuka Singh, who has been in fine form since the Commonwealth Games in August, sent Hasini Perera to the pavilion with the very first ball. She returned with a catch at cover and at that time Sri Lanka’s score was nine for four.
Kavisha Dilhari also could not last long and half of Sri Lanka’s team returned to the pavilion on the score of 16. She got bowled in an attempt to play the incoming ball of Renuka. Rajeshwari Gaikwad took her first wicket in the form of Nilakshi de Silva. Sri Lanka’s score at this time was 32 for eight and it seemed that the team could not even score 50 runs. Ranveer, however, saved him from the embarrassment by scoring an unbeaten 18 off 22 balls.
The Indians bowled disciplined but the Sri Lankan batsmen suffered more due to poor shot selection. The Sri Lankan team, which defeated Pakistan in the semi-finals, could not maintain that momentum. India lost the wickets of Shefali Verma and Jemima Rodrigues in reply. After this Mandhana led the team to victory. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur remained unbeaten on 11 off 14 balls. Mandhana hit six fours and three sixes in her innings and took the winning run by hitting Oshadi Ranasinghe for a six. This win will boost India’s confidence ahead of the T20 World Cup next year.
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