Dambulla | India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and opted to bat against Sri Lanka in the women’s Asia Cup final here on Sunday.
India did not make any changes to the playing eleven from their semifinal against Bangladesh.
Sri Lanka made one change, bringing in Sachini Nisansala for Achini Kulasuriya.
Teams:
India: Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana, Uma Chetry, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Radha Yadav, Tanuja Kanwar, Renuka Singh.
Sri Lanka: Vishmi Gunaratne, Chamari Athapaththu (c), Harshitha Samarawickrama, Hasini Perera, Anushka Sanjeewani (wk), Kavisha Dilhari, Nilakshika Silva, Inoshi Priyadharshani, Udeshika Prabodhani, Sugandika Kumari, Sachini Nisansala.
Smirti Mandhana’s conditions-defying half-century powered India to a fighting 165 for six against Sri Lanka in the women’s Asia Cup final here on Sunday.
Mandhana (60, 47b, 10x4), Jemimah Rodrigues (29, 16 balls, 3x4, 1x6) and Richa Ghosh (30, 14 balls, 4x4, 1x6) led defending champions India’s tight contest against a plethora of Lankan spinners after skipper Harmanpreet Kaur decided to bat.
In fact, the home side included only one pacer in their ranks – Udeshika Prabodhani and the rest were slow bowlers.
The Lanka bowlers indeed made good use of a slow pitch as well, often strangling the otherwise free-flowing Indian batters.
It was evident from the struggles of Shafali Verma (16, 19 balls), who found it difficult to time her shots.
Mandhana had a massive slice of fortune early in the innings as her weak chip off spinner Kavisha Dilhari was put down at covers by Harshitha Samarawickrama.
The left-hander made the hosts pay for that mistake with some gorgeous shots, especially against Prabodhani whom she carted for three fours in the sixth over as India reached 44 for no loss.
But Verma soon fell leg before to Dilhari after getting pinged on her pads while trying a tweak to the on-side.
As the Power Play came to an end, Mandhana had to resort to some improvisations such as scoops behind the stumper to get her boundaries.
The Indian vice-captain also often had to make room for herself or shuffle across the stumps to find the ropes because the ball was not exactly coming on to her bat.
While Mandhana managed to beat the slowness of the deck, it consumed Harmanpreet and Uma Chetry, who got a promotion to No. 3.
At 87 for three in the 12th over, India needed a move-on and it was given by an aggressive Rodrigues in the company of Mandhana, making 41 runs off 25 balls for the fourth wicket.
However, the run out of Rodrigues and the dismissal of Mandhana pushed India to 133 for five in 16.5 overs.
Ghosh played a typical swift innings that contained a massive slog-swept six off Dilhari over the mid-wicket.
In the company of Pooja Vastrakar, Ghosh milked 31 runs for the crucial sixth wicket stand that carried India past the 160-run mark, which might require a very strong chase from the Lankans to overhaul.
Scoreboard of the Women’s T20 Asia Cup final between India and Sri Lanka here on Sunday.
India:
Shafali Verma lbw b Dilhari 16
Smriti Mandhana c Athapaththu b Dilhari 60
Uma Chetry lbw Athapaththu 9
Harmanpreet Kaur c de Silva b Nisansala 11
Jemimah Rodrigues run out (Nisansala/Sanjeewani) 29
Richa Ghosh c Sanjeevani b Prabodhani 30
Pooja Vastrakar not out 5
Radha Yadav not out 1
Extras: 4 (w-3, nb-1)
Total: 165/6 in 20 overs
Fall of wickets: 1-44, 2-58, 3-87, 4-128, 5-133, 164-6
Bowling: Inoshi Priyadharshani 4-0-31-0, Udeshika Prabodhani 3-0-27-1, Sugandika Kumari 4-0-23-0, Kavisha Dilhari 4-0-36-2, Sachini Nisansala 2-0-20-1, Chamari Athapaththu 3-0-28-1.
