IND-W vs SL-W| Athapaththu and Samarawickrama's batting blitz secures Sri Lanka's maiden Asia Cup title

SportsCafe Desk

BySportsCafe Desk, SportsCafe Editor

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Sri Lanka beat India by eight wickets in the Asia Cup final at Dambulla. India scored 165/6 in 20 overs, with Smriti Mandhana's half-century and Richa Ghosh's late cameo whereas an 87-run partnership between Chamari Athapaththu and Harshitha Samarawickrama secured Sri Lanka's maiden Asia Cup title.

‌A full house in Dambulla eagerly awaited the start of the highly anticipated Women's Asia Cup Final between the India Women’s and Sri Lanka Women’s teams. Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and chose to bat first. The Indian openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Varma got off to a strong start, reaching 44/0 by the end of the powerplay. However, the partnership was broken in the seventh over when Kavisha Dilhari dismissed Varma. The setback continued when Chamari Athapaththu claimed the crucial wicket of Uma Chetry in the ninth over. Mandhana and Kaur then steadied the innings bringing the score to 77/2 after 11 overs. Just as the pair was setting a solid foundation, Sachini Nisansala dismissed Kaur, creating a jolt in India's innings. Nonetheless, Mandhana continued to play well reaching a half-century in just 37 balls, with the score at 90/3 in 13 overs. Jemimah Rodrigues joined Mandhana, and together they added 41 runs to the score. But Dilhari made a comeback, taking the key wickets of both Rodrigues and Mandhana in the 17th over. However, Richa Ghosh's powerful cameo of 30 runs off 14 balls cruised India to 165/6 at the end of their 20 overs.

In response, Sri Lanka had a shaky start losing Vishmi Gunaratne to Pooja Vastrakar in the second over. However, Athapaththu and Harshitha Samarawickrama quickly turned the game around, building a 65-run partnership that brought Sri Lanka to 72/1 after nine overs. The Sri Lankan captain played brilliantly, scoring a half-century off just 33 balls. The duo dominated the Indian bowlers until the 12th over until Athapaththu’s dismissal for a well-played 61 off 43 balls. Samarawickrama and Dilhari then continued to guide Sri Lanka's chase adding 41 runs and bringing the score to 132/2 in 16 overs. With eight wickets in hand and only 34 runs needed from 24 balls, the match was in Sri Lanka's favour. Samarawickrama's 43-ball fifty further dashed India's hopes, and ultimately, Dilhari sealed the victory with a six in the 19th over giving Sri Lanka a decisive eight-wicket win and their first Asia Cup title.

Well done

Easy chances

Well played

One reason

Played well

Droppped it

Huge wicket

Overrated

Terrible

Waiting for it

 

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