KUUMAR SHYAM (DUBAI)
India scored a thumping 72-run win against Sri Lanka to claim the Asia Cup title in Dubai on Sunday. After India won the toss and elected to bat, openers Smriti Mandhana (59) and Shefali Varma (68) were quickly out of the blocks during the Powerplay overs with field restrictions on.
The opening blitz caught the Sri Lankans by surprise. While the focus was on Mandhana, India’s top run-getter in women’s cricket, it was Varma who took charge of the innings. Starting steadily, she exploded to smash the fastest fifty in T20 Asia Cups, one ball less (24) than Mandhana’s effort in 2022.
The opening salvo saw the first 100 runs up in 10.2 overs without losing a wicket and helped India run on full steaml steam to reach 183-5. However, some runouts put the brakes briefly on their progress.
“I think there are so many aspects of the game that we focus on. A lot of emphasis was put on the fielding aspect. Fitness was looked after well; and also the running between wickets,” said coach Amol Mazumdar after the match.
The two run-outs amid a quick flurry of wickets must have given Sri Lanka some hope but the tail also wagged nicely for India.
Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu was aware of the task at hand in the innings break: only once before had a 150-plus chase in Women's T20 Asia Cup been achieved.
When the opening Lankan batters went in, India showed they had done their homework as a bowling unit too. “They kept changing the field during every ball for me. And with the loss of an early wicket (fellow opener Imesha Dulani) as well as a wicket difficult for batting in the latter stages of the game, it was a tough task,” said Athapaththu.
Even as the strongest and most experienced batter of the side, Athapaththu could not break the shackles during the power play, but scored 36 runs. Only Nilashika Silva (22) provided some lusty blows that were to no avail towards the end.
Both teams head to Japan for the Asian Games which starts on September 18. After the Asian Games, Sri Lanka were to host the Champions Trophy, but that tournament has been shifted to India next February because the Sri Lankan board has been suspended by the world body, the International Cricket Council.
Match summary: India Women 183/5 in 20 overs (Shafali Verma 68, Smriti Mandhana 59; Mithali Ayodya 1-33, Chamari Athapaththu 1-34) beat Sri Lanka Women 111/10 (Athapaththu 36, Nilakshika Silva 22; Shree Charani 4-20, Deepti Sharma 3-19)