India Dominates Sri Lanka In A Dud Final: Records 7th Asia Cup Trophy Win

It wasn’t the final cricket fans were expecting to be. In a one-sided Asia Cup final, India thrashed the Sri Lankan team, defeating them by eight wickets. Smriti Mandhana, who blazed her way to her first half-century in the competition, and captain Harmanpreet Kaur completed the paltry 66-run chase in the ninth over.

Sri Lanka’s 65 for 9 is the lowest total by a side batting first and playing out the full 20 overs in a women’s tournament final. India chased it down with 69 balls to spare, which constitutes another record in a women’s T20I title clash.

Two captains posing with the trophy(bcb) — Two captains posing with the trophy before the final(**BCB**)

Renuka Singh’s spell was enough to destroy the Sri Lankan batting lineup as she had hands in 4 dismissals out of the first five wickets. She finished with the 3-1-5-3 and ran out the Sri Lankan skipper Chamari Athapaththu. Spinners Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Sneh Rana shared two wickets each.

Inoka Ranaweera scored an unbeaten 18, the highest score for the team and her partnership with number 11 Achini Kulasuriya survived getting all out. By then the Indian fielders had surrounded the batters in close catching positions, with Harmanpreet deploying only two or three fielders outside the circle.

The final attracted the biggest crowd of the tournament – about 10,000 or so – to the picturesque Sylhet International Stadium. But before half of them had even taken their seats, India had reduced Sri Lanka to 9 for 4 in the fourth over.

SRI LANKA INNINGS

The Indian bowlers were at the top of their game from the start. Sri Lankan openers Athapaththu and Anushka Sanjeewani didn’t even get the time to get comfortable as they could only score 7 runs in the first two overs. In the next over, Athapaththu was back in the pavilion due to her misunderstanding of taking an impossible single.

Ecstatic Indian skipper Harmanpreet(acc) — Ecstatic Indian skipper Harmanpreet(ACC )

In the fifth over, Renuka dismissed Harshitha Samarawickrama as she edged it to the keeper. Sanjeewani was the next to get run out in the very next ball courtesy of the throw by Pooja Vastrakar from the midwicket. Next was Hasini Perera as she played a nothing shot on Renuka’s delivery giving an easy catch to the Mandhana at the cover.

Sri Lankan batters surrender

Renuka Singh struck thrice inside the powerplay, India vs Sri Lanka, Final, Women's T20 Asia Cup, Sylhet, October 15, 2022 — Renuka took three wickets in the final(**ACC**)

Kavisha Dilhari was the next victim of Renuka as she got bowled on her beautiful delivery. Sri Lanka was 16-5 in the 6th over. It soon became 27-7 as the spinning duo Sneh Rana and Gaikwad scalped a wicket each.

Gayakwad and Rana got the wickets of Oshadi Ranasinghe and Sugandika Kumari respectively to make it two for each.

Indian Chase

The first over was a quiet one but not for long. In the next over Mandhana hit through her favourite region ie covers for the first four of her innings. In the next over she targeted Ranasinghe for a six in the covers, following it up with four.

Mandhana then welcomed Ranaweera with six in the mid-on. Shafali Varma too tried to accelerate only to get stumped while going for a hit. Jemimah Rodrigues tried to slog too only in vain, but all this didn’t affect Mandhana and she was still fluent with her strokeplay.

She hit Dilhari for two consecutive fours and then hit a winning six. With the six she scored the fifty in just 25 deliveries.