Harpal Singh Bedi
India defeated Sri Lanka by 19 runs to win Asian Games Women cricket Gold medal at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China on Monday. This was India’s second gold medal of the day in the Asian Games
India won the toss and decided to bat first. Despite losing Shafali Verma early on, Smriti Mandhana (46 off 45 balls) and Jemimah Rodrigues (42 off 40 balls) set the tone for the innings. The pair added a crucial 73-run partnership for the second wicket.
India lost their way in the death overs after Mandhana’s dismissal, adding only 16 runs to the total in the last four overs. They finished with 116/7 in 20 overs. For Sri Lanka Udeshika Prabodhani, Sugandika Kumari and Inoka Ranaweera picked up two wickets each.
After the break, India’s Titas Sadhu broke the back of the run chase with a double-wicket maiden in her first over. She later dismissed captain Chamari Athapaththu as well, reducing Sri Lanka to 15/3 in five overs.
Hasini Perera and Nilakshi de Silva tried to bring Sri Lanka back in the game with a 36-run stand, but they couldn’t keep up with the required rate. Rajeshwari Gayakwad (2/20) ended this partnership and India managed to see the game through comfortably.
Brief scores
India 116/7 in 20 overs (Smriti Mandhana 46, Jemimah Rodrigues 42; Udeshika Prabodhani 2/16) beat Sri Lanka 97/8 in 20 overs (Hasini Perera 25; Titas Sadhu 3/6)