Batting first Sri Lank scored 65 for the loss of nine wickets in stipulated twenty overs and India Women achieved the target of 66 runs for the loss of two wickets in overs.
SYLHET: (UrduPoint/Pakistan Point News-Oct 15th, 2022) India won Women's Asia cricket Cup beating Sri Lanka in the final by eight wickets at Sylhet on Saturday.
Batting first Sri Lank scored 65 for the loss of nine wickets in stipulated twenty overs and India Women achieved the target of 66 runs for the loss of two wickets in overs.
India dominated from start to finish to win their seventh Women's Asia Cup title, beating Sri Lanka by eight wickets in Sylhet. Smriti Mandhana, who blazed her way to her first half-century in the competition, and captain Harmanpreet Kaur completed the paltry 66-run chase in the ninth over.
Sri Lanka's 65 for 9 is the lowest total by a side that has played out the 20 overs batting first in a tournament final, while India took the least number of overs to complete a chase in a tournament final in women's T20Is.
Renuka Singh had a hand in four of Sri Lanka's first five dismissals, picking up three wickets and running out Sri Lanka's all-important batter Chamari Athapaththu. Sneh Rana and Rajeshwari Gayakwad took two wickets each.
Only a defiant last-wicket partnership between Inoka Ranaweera, who top-scored with her unbeaten 18, and No 11 Achini Kulasuriya helped them avoid getting bowled out. By then the Indian fielders had surrounded the batters in close catching positions, with Harmanpreet deploying only two or three fielders outside the circle.
The final attracted the biggest crowd of the tournament at the picturesque Sylhet International Stadium. The 10,000-odd crowd that turned up, mostly seated on the eastern stand, cheered every Sri Lankan run and Indian wicket.
The Indian bowlers' accuracy stood out in the game. Sri Lankan openers Athapaththu and Anushka Sanjeewani couldn't get going, with the first two overs going just for four runs. In the third over, Athapaththu ran for an almost impossible single after dabbing the ball to deep third and was well short of her crease when the throw came in, departing for 6.
The implosion came in the next over. Renuka had Harshitha Madavi caught behind before Sanjeewani got run-out next ball. A slight mix-up in the middle of their quick single meant that Pooja Vastrakar's throw from midwicket caught Sanjeewani short. Renuka completed the team hat-trick next ball when Hasini Perera chipped straight to Mandhana at cover.
With Sri Lanka reeling at 9 for 4 in the third over, Renuka continued the devastation when she bowled Kavisha Dilhari with an in-ducker. Gayakwad and Rana joined in the wicket-fest shortly afterwards.
Gayakwad bowled Nilakshi de Silva for 6. Rana then collected a soft dismissal: Malsha Shehani inside-edged one back to the bowler, the ball looping and landing back into the bowler's hands.
Gayakwad and Rana added one more wicket, getting both Oshadhi Ranasinghe and Sugandika Kumari bowled.
After a quiet first over, Mandhana hit Kumari through the covers for the first boundary. Next over, she lifted Ranasinghe over extra cover for a six, following it up with a swivel through backward square leg for four.
Mandhana then greeted Ranaweera with a lofted hit over mid-on for a six, before Shafali Varma fell trying a big hit, getting stumped for five. Jemimah Rodrigues fell trying to slog Dilhari, but Mandhana kept going having found her fluency.
She struck Dilhari for three more fours in her next two overs - over mid-on and twice off successive balls through cover and point. Mandhana later completed the chase with a four over mid-on before lofting towards midwicket for the winning run and also completed an unbeaten half-century off 25 balls.
