- Asian Games Women’s Cricket Final
- Sri Lanka collects first medal at Games
Sri Lanka picked up the first medal at the ongoing 20th Asian Games in Japan when their women cricketers took the Silver in the Women’s T20I final played at Nisshin, Japan yesterday.
In a totally one-sided match India beat Sri Lanka comprehensively by 147 runs to successfully defend the Gold medal in a rematch of the last Asian Games final in Hangzhou in 2023.
India’s massive win was set up by a blistering batting performance that produced their T20I best of 13 sixes in an innings of 216-3, which as it turned out was just five short of their highest total in the format, set against the same opposition in Thiruvananthapuram last December.
As in that fixture, the total was built on the back of Smriti Mandhana (79 off 45 balls, 5 fours, 7 sixes), Shafali Verma (48 off 29 balls, 3 fours, 3 sixes) and Richa Ghosh (49* off 22 balls, 6 fours, 3 sixes). Mandhana and Verma put on 99 in the first 10 overs, with the left-hander setting the tone early by taking down Sugandika Kumari. She raced away to her 37th T20I half-century off just 30 balls. Verma, fresh off a century in the semifinal, matched her stride for stride, hitting three sixes and as many fours before miscuing an attempted reverse sweep off Chamudi Praboda.
Harmanpreet Kaur, who walked in at No.3 fell for 19 attempting to clear long-off. At the other end, though, Mandhana continued in her merry ways and looked set for a hundred until a slog sweep found the fielder in the deep. Richa Ghosh provided a blistering finish striking six fours, three sixes, and helped plunder 25 in the final over that carried India past 200 and left Sri Lanka needing something extraordinary to chase.
Sri Lanka never got close. Barring Chamari Athapaththu’s 29 off 21 balls at the top, Sri Lanka couldn’t build any momentum, and India’s spin quartet choked any remaining life in the game. Deepti Sharma took 3/6 while Shree Charani, Shreyanka Patil and Shafali Verma took a brace each to end the one-sided contest.
Scores:
India 216-3 (20) (Smriti Mandhana 79, Richa Ghosh 49*, Shafali Verma 48; Chamudi Praboda 1/34) beat Sri Lanka 69 (15.4) (Chamari Athapaththu 29, Deepti Sharma 3/6, Shree Charani 2/13, Shafali Verma 2/3)
