15 October, Sylhet, Bangladesh stadium Spinners and Renuka Thakur put in a stellar performance to restrict Sri Lanka to a lowly 65/9, again once Smriti Mandhana smashed an unbeaten 25-ball fifty to help India win their seventh Women’s Asia Cup title, defeating Sri Lanka by eight wickets at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium on Saturday.
Highlights of India Vs Srilanka Women Asia Cup Final
Renuka Thakur shone with 3/5 in three overs on a pitch that was tailor-made for spinners to excel as the ball stayed low and turned square, while Rajeshwari Gayakwad (2/16) and Sneh Rana (2/13) had economical spells, with Deepti Sharma conceding just seven runs in her four overs to keep Sri Lanka to 65/9.
Smriti produced a superb performance in reply, finishing with a six over long-on for an unbeaten 51 off 25 balls, laced with six fours and three sixes, to complete the chase with 11.3 overs to spare, in an innings when the rest of the Indian hitters managed 20 off 26 balls.
Sri Lanka made a disastrous start after electing to bat first, when skipper Chamari Athapaththu was run out for a non-existent single in the third over. Renuka then broke the back of Sri Lanka’s innings by dismissing Harshitha Madavi and Hasini Perera, in addition to another awful run-out of Anushka Sanjeevani.
Renuka took her third power-play wicket when Kavisha Dilhari missed a swipe across the line and was clean bowled, leaving Sri Lanka at 16/5 in power-play. After the power-play, Rajeshwari and Sneh added to Sri Lanka’s woes by splitting four wickets between them to keep them at 65/9.
In a dismal batting performance, only Inoka Ranaweera (18 not out) and Oshadi Ranasinghe (13) reached double digits for Sri Lanka. Smriti opened her response with a punchy drive past additional cover off Sugandika Kumari.
She then danced down the field, lofting Oshadi inside-out over extra-cover, and then pulling through square leg. After Smriti lofted Inoka for a clear six over long-on, Shafali Verma attempted the same, but came down the pitch too early and was easily stumped by turn and extra bounce.
Jemimah Rodrigues moved down the pitch early in the following over, but the ball stayed low and sailed by her to strike the base of off-stump. Smriti was unfazed by the loss of two wickets in a row, punching over a leaping cover and crunching through the gap off Kavisha for consecutive boundaries.
She was hitting boundaries with exquisite ease on a pitch where hitters labored. Smriti glided down the pitch again, lifting Inoka over mid-off and thumping Oshadi over long-on for a hat-trick. She completed the chase and reached fifty by smashing a tremendous six over long-on off Oshadi, ensuring India’s victory in the Asia Cup 2022.India win the seventh Women’s Asia Cup.
Sri Lanka 65/9 in 20 overs (Inoka Ranaweera 18 not out, Oshadi Ranasinghe 13; Renuka Thakur 3/5, Sneh Rana 2/13) were defeated by India 71/2 in 8.3 overs (Smriti Mandhana 51 not out, Harmanpreet Kaur 11 not out; Inoka Ranaweera 1/17, Kavisha Dilhari 1/17).
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