Sri Lanka lift Women's Asia Cup title, beat fancied India in final

For those shocked at seeing India not jog over to the Women’s Asian Cup title in Dambulla today and instead get tripped over the Sri Lankan challenge in the final, need to travel back to April this year when the girls from the Emerald Isles defeated South Africa women in their backyard 2-1 in a T20I series.

Harshitha Samarawickrama (69 not out off 51 balls; 6x4s, 2x6s) and Chamari Athapaththu (61 off 43 balls; 9x4s, 2x6s), who added 87 valuable runs for the second wicket to set a platform for the 165-run chase, were also the stars in the series-decider in South Africa where they both scored half-centuries.

On Sunday, in the final of the Asia Cup, India batted first to score 165/6 in 20 overs with opener Smriti Mandhana hitting 60 off 47 balls (10x4s). Jemimah Rodrigues (29 off 16 balls; 3x4s, 1x6) and Richa Ghosh (30 off 14; 4x4s, 1x6) were the other scorers. Off-spinner Kavisha Dilhari took 2/36.

In response, Sri Lanka Women lost an early wicket but then the big partnership between Harshitha and Chamari got them going. Harshitha and Kavisha (30 off 16) then added an unbeaten 73 for the third wicket to see their team through.

This was Sri Lanka’s first Women’s Asia Cup title. India have won it seven times, including four in ODIs while Bangladesh have won it once (in 2018).

Sri Lanka, Cricket, Women's Asia Cup, India