Smriti Mandhana struck a fifty for India but Harshitha Madavi and Chamari Athapaththu too scored half-centuries to steer Sri Lanka to an eight-wicket win in the final.
2 min By Anuraag PeesaraThe Indian cricket team was stunned by Sri Lanka in the final of the Women’s Asia Cup T20 2024 on Sunday as the hosts won the match in Dambulla by eight wickets.
The Indian women’s cricket team won the Asia Cup seven times in eight editions previously. For Sri Lanka, it won their maiden title having lost the final five times previously to India.
Smriti Mandhana’s half-century (60 off 47 balls), powered by cameos from Jemimah Rodrigues and Richa Ghosh, took India to 165/6 in 20 overs in the first innings. Kavisha Dilhari was the pick of the Sri Lankan bowlers with two wickets.
Harshitha Madavi (69 off 51 balls) and Chamari Athapaththu (61 off 43 balls) starred for the host nation, while Kavisha Dilhari too shone with a vital cameo (30 off 16 balls).
Electing to bat first, Indian openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma were off to a cautious start in the powerplay, scoring 44 runs without losing a wicket. A couple of quick wickets got the batting side on the backfoot, but Mandhana stood tall at the other end.
Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur perished in an attempt to up the ante, but Jemimah Rodrigues, playing her 100th T20I match, made a vital contribution to accelerate the scoring. Mandhana too completed her fifty as the duo added 41 runs in 25 balls for the fourth wicket.
Richa Ghosh took charge in the last three overs with some impressive power-hitting. She scored 30 runs off only 14 balls, helping India cross the 160 mark.
In the run chase, Vishmi Gunaratne got run out in the second over after a poor mix-up with Chamari Athapaththu. The Lankan skipper, however, built a terrific partnership alongside Harshitha Madavi to keep the required rate under control.
Athapaththu completed her half-century and added 87 runs for the second wicket with Harshitha. Deepti Sharma broke their partnership, but Harshitha continued the good work alongside Kavisha Dilhari.
The duo kept striking the odd boundary and took full control of the match in the 18th over, scoring 17 runs off Radha Yadav. With only eight runs needed in the final two overs, Sri Lanka completed the run chase comfortably to win the Asian crown.
IND-W vs SL-W Women’s Asia Cup T20 2024 final brief scores: India 165/6 in 20 overs (Smriti Mandhana 60, Kavisha Dilhari 2/36) lost to Sri Lanka 167/2 in 18.4 overs (Harshitha Madavi 69*, Chamari Athapaththu 61) by eight wickets.
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