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On Monday, the Indian women’s team outplayed Sri Lanka by 19 runs in the final of the cricket event to win the gold medal in the ongoing Asian Games 2023. This was overall India’s second gold medal at the 2023 Asian Games. Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss for India and decided to bat first in the final. Opener batter Shafali Varma could not make it big as she was the first one to collapse. Sri Lanka’s Sugandika Kumari picked up her first wicket of the day. But then Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues tried to reduce the damage, building a crucial 73-run stand to get India back in the game.
Mandhana fell short of reaching her 23rd T20I half-century as Inoka Ranaweera dismissed her after scoring 46 runs off 45 balls. She also smashed five boundaries and a six. Rodrigues on the other hand ended up scoring 42 runs off 40 deliveries but none of her teammates supported her as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Batters like Richa Ghosh, Harmanpreet, Pooja Vastrakar, and Amanjot Kaur departed without moving the scoreboard much.
India somehow managed to post a decent total of 116 for 7 on the scoreboard after 20 overs. For Sri Lanka, Udeshika Prabodhani, Sugandika Kumari and Ranaweera were the stars with the ball, picking up two wickets each. While defending the total, Indian bowlers started well, scalping three early wickets. It was Titas Sadhu who struck with the new ball, snaring both openers Chamari Athapaththu and Anushka Sanjeewani and also cleaned up Vishmi Gunaratne, leaving Sri Lanka reeling at 14 for 3 in 4.2 overs. Batters Hasini Perera and Nilakshi de Silva did try to revive Sri Lanka’s innings as both went on to add a 36-run stand. Perera made 25 runs off 22 balls while De Silva collected 23 runs off 34 deliveries.
Sri Lankan batters were restricted to just 97 for 8 after 20 overs, falling short by 19 runs.
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