Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana put on the highest partnership in Women’s T20I tournament – 129
Chamari Athapaththu’s innings of 36 was not good enough for Sri Lanka to win
Shree Charani scalps another Sri Lankan wicket on her way to a four-wicket haul
Defeat Sri Lanka by 72 runs in the final
India regained the Women’s Asia Cup defeating defending champions Sri Lanka in convincing fashion by 72 runs in the final played at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium yesterday. It was overall, India’s eighth Women’s Asia Cup title.
Chasing 184 was always going to be a steep hill to climb for Sri Lanka, and India’s disciplined attack made it virtually impossible. Sri Lanka lost wickets in clusters, having no answers to the spin and guile of Shree Charani, who delivered a game-changing spell of 4/22. The experienced Deepti Sharma provided brilliant support, picking up 3 crucial wickets for 19 to finish as the leading wicket-taker of the tournament.
The Indian spinners operated in tandem to completely freeze the scoring through the middle overs, and as the required rate skyrocketed, Sri Lanka simply collapsed under the pressure of trying to hit out.
Sri Lanka entered the final unbeaten on the back of several middle-order rescue acts, but yesterday there was no coming back. India were by far the most dominant team in the tournament.
Batting first India put up a daunting target for Sri Lanka. The tone was set right at the top by Smriti Mandhana (59 off 39 balls, 5 fours, 3 sixes) and Shafali Verma (68 off 39 balls, 9 fours, 2 sixes) blazed through the powerplay, laying a rock-solid foundation with a sensational opening partnership of 129 – the highest in Women’s T20I tournament final.
Once the openers departed, Sri Lanka pulled things back admirably. Runs dried up in the middle overs, and a cluster of quick wickets threatened to derail the momentum. But a late flourish pushed India to a formidable total. As for Sri Lanka, their bowling lacked bite for large spells, offering far too many loose deliveries that the Indian batters gleefully punished.
Scores:
India Women 183-5 (20) (Smriti Mandhana 59, Shafali Verma 68, Mithali Ayodhya 1/33) defeated Sri Lanka Women 111 (20) (Chamari Athapaththu 36, Vishmi Gunaratne 20, Nilakshika Silva 22, Shree Charani 4/20, Deepti Sharma 3/19)
