In a thrilling final showdown at Hangzhou’s Pingfeng Campus Cricket Field, the India Women’s cricket team sealed the Asian Games gold medal in their maiden appearance in the competition. They defeated Sri Lanka Women by 19 runs on Monday, September 25, successfully defending a target of 117. Titas Sadhu emerged as the star performer for India with the ball, finishing with impressive figures of 3-6 from her four-over spell.
Harmanpreet Kaur, the Indian captain back in action after a two-game ban, won the toss and opted to bat first. However, the typical explosive start from Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana, the openers, in the powerplay did not materialize as Sri Lanka adopted an early spin-heavy strategy. Given the slow nature of the surface, they deployed five spinners and two seamers in the first half of the innings. Shafali was the first to depart, managing only 9 runs from 15 balls, thanks to a splendid stumping by Anushka Sanjeewani, the wicketkeeper, off the bowling of Sugandika Kumari.
Following Shafali’s departure, Jemimah Rodrigues partnered with Smriti Mandhana, and the pair steadily accumulated runs through singles and doubles. Their partnership yielded 73 runs, before an injured Mandhana fell to Inoka Ranaweera. This triggered a late flurry of wickets, and they concluded their innings on 116-7 after 20 overs. While Jemimah anchored the innings with 42, Mandhana’s gritty 46 propelled India to a competitive total.
Chamari Athapaththu, Sri Lanka’s captain and opener, launched a spirited attack in the first over, accumulating 12 runs against Deepti Sharma and giving her team a strong start. However, on a pitch that proved challenging, Athapaththu’s partner, Sanjeewani, attempted to take on the Indian pacers and was dismissed by Titas. In the same over, Titas struck again, removing Sri Lanka’s No. 3, Vishmi Gunaratne, for a duck with a superb delivery that nipped back.
In her subsequent over, Titas claimed the crucial wicket of Athapaththu, who managed 12 runs from 12 balls before slashing one to cover. Hasini Perera showed promise during her brief innings but eventually fell to Rajeshwari Gayakwad. With the required run rate rising, Nilakshi de Silva (23 off 34) attempted an aggressive shot against Pooja Vastrakar but missed, leading to her dismissal in the 17th over. The following over saw Oshadi Ranasinghe deceived by Deepti, extinguishing Sri Lanka’s hopes of clinching victory.
Having missed out on Commonwealth Games gold in agonising circumstances in 2022, India made no mistake in Hangzhou, seeing off both Bangladesh and Sri Lanka with a measure of comfort that augurs well for a future that could possibly involve cricket at the Olympic Games.