Women's T20 Asia Cup 2024: Team India falter in Final, lose to Sri Lanka by 8 wickets

Not the outcome fans or anyone expected, as Team India lost the final of the Women's T20 Asia Cup 2024 to Sri Lanka at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium. The host nation had strong support from the crowd as the Women in Blue struggled to find wickets. While the Indian team appeared frustrated on the field, the Sri Lankan batters remained composed, hitting boundaries at regular intervals. With this Sri Lanka won their first-ever Asia Cup by 8 wickets in 18.4 overs.

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After posting only 165 runs and losing six wickets, the Indians could not defend the total as they were sloppy while fielding and missed several catches. Despite skipper Chamari Athapaththu's valiant effort, scoring 61 off 43 balls, it was Harshitha Samarawickrama who stayed unbeaten with 69 off 51 balls, alongside Kavisha Dilhari, who added 30 off 16 which paid off.

In the clash, India won the toss and opted to bat which saw Smriti Mandhana keep the pace going as she scored 60 off 47 balls. Shafali Verma (16 off 19), Uma Chetry (9 off 7), Harmanpreet Kaur (11 off 11), Jemimah Rodrigues (29 off 16), Richa Ghosh (30 off 14), Pooja Vastrakar (5 off 6) and Radha Yadav (1 off 1) played cameos helping post 165 runs on the board.

For Sri Lanka, Kavisha Dilhari picked up two wickets while Udeshika Prabodhani, Sachini Nisansala and captain Chamari Athapaththu all contributed taking one each.

As for Lankan batting, only opener Vishmi Gunaratne was the one who fell cheaply for 1 off 3 while the rest of the three batters kept the momentum away from the Women in Blue. Chamari Athapaththu and Harshitha Samarawickrama stitched an 87-run stand to bring the game back in the balance. But, Deepti Sharma outfoxed the Sri Lankan skipper with a brilliant piece of bowling to transfer back on the hosts. 

But, Harshitha kept going and Dilhari came in and looked fluent from the word go. The former was also dropped at 45 by Harmanpreet Kaur and if India had got that wicket then, it could have been a different story. 

Teams:

Sri Lanka Women (Playing XI): Vishmi Gunaratne, Chamari Athapaththu(c), Harshitha Samarawickrama, Kavisha Dilhari, Nilakshi de Silva, Anushka Sanjeewani(w), Hasini Perera, Sugandika Kumari, Inoshi Priyadharshani, Udeshika Prabodhani, Sachini Nisansala

India Women (Playing XI): Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Uma Chetry, Harmanpreet Kaur(c), Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh(w), Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Radha Yadav, Tanuja Kanwar, Renuka Thakur Singh

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