Hangzhou: Indian women defeated Sri Lanka by 9 runs in the final of the 2023 Asian Games to give India their second gold medal.
Electing to bat first, India could manage 116/7 in the stipulated 20 overs. Shafali Verma (9) lost her wicket early as she was stumped by Anushka Sanjeewani off Sugandika Kumari. However, Smriti Mandhana (46) and Jamimah Rodrigues (42) stitched a very vital 73 runs partnership for the second wicket.
Mandhana missed out on her fifty and so did Jemimah, and the Sri Lankan bowlers pulled things back by picking regular wickets towards the end overs.
Sri Lanka's fielding was excalibre, and Sanjeewani behind the stumps was excellent. She held on to a couple of fantastic catches and exacted an exceptional run-out on the last ball of the innings.
In reply, Sri Lanka scored 12 runs in the first over of the run chase as Chamari Athapaththu struck a meaty six against Deepti Sharma. However, Indian bowlers rocked the Sri Lankan batswomen.
Titas Sadhu was the pick of the bowlers for India as she picked three wickets and broke the spine of the Sri Lankan batting lineup. Her spell of 4-1-6-3 choked the Lankan batswomen as they fell short of the target by 19 runs.
Left-arm orthodox Rajeshwari Gayakwad also chipped in with 2/20 with Deepto Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar and Devika Vaidya picked a wicket each.
For Sri Lanka, Hasini Perera was the top-scorer with 25 followed by Nilakshi de Silva who scored 23. As many as six batswomen did not reach double digits. (UNI)
