Dambulla, July 28 (ANI): Outstanding batting performances from Harshitha Samawickrama and Chamari Athapaththu guided Sri Lanka Women to victory over India Women by eight wickets in the final of the Women’s Asia Cup 2024 at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium on Sunday.
Chasing a total of 166 runs, the hosts didn’t get the start they wanted as they lost the wicket of opener Vishmi Gunaratne in the second over. She was sent back to the dressing room through a run out when the team score was 7 runs.
Following Gunaratne’s dismissal, Harshitha came out in the middle to bat along with Athapaththu.
The Islanders brought up the 50-run mark on the penultimate ball of the seventh over as Athapaththu slammed a boundary on the bowling of the left-arm spinner Radha Yadav.
Athapaththu completed her fifty in the 10th over as she hit a boundary on the second last ball of the 10th over on the bowling of right-arm seamer Renuka Thakur.
Sri Lanka lost their second wicket in the 12th over as Athapaththu was sent back to the pavillion as off-spiner Deepti Sharma clened her up. Before going back the right-hand batter scored 61 runs off 43 balls with the help of nine fours and two sixes.
The Chamari Athapaththu-led side went on to clinch the title in the 19th over with eight wickets in hand.
Harshitha played an unbeaten knock of 69 runs from 51 balls, which was laced with six boundaries and two maximums. On the other hand, Kavisha Dilhari played an unbeaten innings of 30 runs in 16 balls which included one four and two sixes in her innings.
For Women in Blue, only Deepti was able to snap a wicket in her spell of four overs where she conceded 30 runs.
Earlier in the day, the visitors skipper Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and elected to bat first in the title decider.
Batting first, India scored 165/6 in their 20 overs with the knocks from Smriti Mandhana (60 runs off 47 balls, 10 fours), Richa Ghosh (30 runs from 14 balls, four boundaries and one six), and Jemimah Rodrigues (29 runs in 16 balls, three fours and a six).
For Sri Lanka, Dilhari was the pick of the bowlers as she bagged two wickets in her spell of four overs where she conceded 36 runs. One wicket each was taken by Udeshika Prabodhani, Sachini Nisansala, and Athapaththu in their respective spells.
Brief Score:
Sri Lanka Women 167/2 in 18.4 overs (Harshita Samawickrama 69*, Chamari Athapaththu 61, Deepti Sharma 1/30) vs. India Women 165/6 in 20 overs (Smriti Mandhana 60, Richa Ghosh 30, Kavisha Dilhari 2/36).
