Sri Lanka’s all-round show wins them women’s Asia Cup as Harmanpreet & Co stumble in the final

Breezy half-centuries from captain Chamari Athapaththu and Harshitha Samarawickrama, besides Kavisha Dilhari’s all-round exploits, enabled Sri Lanka defeat defending champions India by eight wickets and claim the Asia Cup in Dambulla on Sunday. Though India were favourites, the outcome does not come as a complete surprise as Lanka had been on a red-hot winning streak, having lost only three of their last 17 games.

From the moment India decided to bat after winning the toss, Sri Lanka were purposeful and perseverant. Despite the brisk opening-wicket stand of 44 runs from 6.1 overs between Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma, they didn’t panic. Dilhari, hailing from the same neighbourhood as Lasith Malinga in the coastal town of Rathgama near Galle, made the ball straighten just enough to ping an on-the-charge Verma on the pads in front of the off-stump. Dilhari is a utility spinner, capable of bowling accurate leg-breaks to right-handed batters and off-spinners to left-handers. Not a big turner of the ball, she deceives batters with clever change of length and pace variation.

Even though Mandhana continued to bat fluently at one end, Sri Lanka made regular dentures from the other end. By the end of the 12th over, Uma Chetry, and more significantly Harmanpreet Kaur, had returned to the dugout, with the score at 87 for 3. Both were victims of their own indiscretion in swiping across the line. The wickets fell to Athapaththu and Sachini Nisansala, thanks to the pressure piled on by the excellent Sugandhika Kumari, who conceded just 23 runs in four overs, even though she went wicketless. From one end, she kept them on a leash, the Indian batters squeezing a lone boundary of her bowling.

However, an enterprising Jemimah Rodrigues injected some impetus with a 16-ball 29. But a calamitous run-out put Sri Lanka back in the game. Rodrigues ran for a non-existent second run and couldn’t defeat the bullet throw of Nisansala from the midwicket region. She flung to the crease, but the wicketkeeper had already whipped the bails off. In the same Dilhari over, India lost Mandhana, as she mistimed a slog-sweep. It finally took Richa Ghosh’s 14-ball 30 not out to propel India to a competitive total of 165. On a placid pitch, the total was inadequate.

Professional chase

To defend the total, India needed early wickets. They secured one in the form of Vishmi Gunaratne in the second over, due to a run-out. But the veteran pair of Athapaththu, the player of the tournament, and Samarawickrama, player of the match, with 202 T20Is between them, took the game by the scruff of the neck through some intelligent batting.

They waited for the right type of bowlers. Athapaththu employed caution until left-arm spinner Tanuja Kanwar arrived to bowl the final Powerplay over and promptly tucked 16 runs off it. It was not until they had put on 87 match-defining runs that India seized their next breakthrough, when Deepti Sharma bowled Athapaththu round her legs. Hers was a typically belligerent knock, twinkled with nine fours and a pair of sixes. India, in the entire innings, had managed as many.

Buoyed by the prized scalp, India saw a glimmer of hope. But Samarawickrama and Dilhari batted sensibly to steer clear of panic. There though arrived a moment that India and Kaur would repent. With 41 runs required off 28 balls, the Indian captain let Samarawickrama’s catch slip through her hands. More fumbles and tumbles ensued and the hosts coasted home without much ado.

Kaur admitted as much: “We played good cricket throughout the tournament but today we made a lot of fumbles.” And Sri Lanka didn’t.

Brief Scores:

India 165 for 6 (Mandhana 60, Ghosh 30; Dilhari 2-36) lost to Sri Lanka 167 for 2 (Samarawickrama 69*, Athapaththu 61, Dilhari 30*) by eight wickets

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