Asian Games 2023 Women’s Cricket final: In a historic achievement, the Indian women’s cricket team secured their first-ever gold medal at the 2023 Asian Games. They claimed victory in the final by defeating Sri Lanka by 19 runs, marking an extraordinary milestone for the Indian Women’s cricket team.
India Women put up a strong defense, holding Sri Lanka Women to just 116 runs, securing a remarkable 19-run victory and clinching a historic gold medal in cricket.
Here are the concise match statistics: India posted 116/7 in their allotted 20 overs, with Harmanpreet Kaur contributing 46 runs and Jemimah Rodrigues scoring 42. Sri Lanka managed 97/8 in their 20 overs, led by Hasini Perera with 25 runs, while Titas Sadhu stood out with impressive figures of 3/6. Visit Circbuzz for full scoreboard.
IND W vs SL W Asian Games 2023 Final Match Video Highlights
IND W vs SL W Asian Games 2023 Final Match Report
In a remarkable debut for the Indian women’s cricket team at the Asian Games, emerging pace sensation Titas Sadhu played a pivotal role, singlehandedly securing a gold medal. The team achieved this historic victory by defeating Sri Lanka by 19 runs in a thrilling, low-scoring final match.
Facing a challenging batting pitch, the Indian women’s team encountered difficulties, managing to post a total of 116 for seven, which was considered a par score under the circumstances.
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Nonetheless, Titas, who is only four days away from her 19th birthday, unleashed a devastating opening spell and concluded with impressive figures of 4-1-6-3, significantly contributing to Sri Lanka’s limited total of 97 for eight in 20 overs.
She received valuable support from leg-spinner Devika Vaidya (4-0-15-1), who skillfully maintained control over the opposition’s batting.
Left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad (3-0-20-2) and off-spinner Deepti Sharma (4-0-25-1) encountered a shaky start but found their rhythm during the latter part of the match, ensuring that the Indian women maintained full control throughout.
While India was expected to secure this gold medal, it’s worth noting that the overall standard of cricket in the tournament was somewhat subpar, and the challenging nature of the pitch added to the difficulties.
The tall and agile Titas impressed with her swift deliveries, consistently maintaining a fuller length to claim three crucial wickets in her first two overs, including the dismissal of the opposition’s skipper and their top batter, Chamari Athapaththu (12).
With the retirement of Jhulan Goswami, the Indian women’s team has been lacking a genuine fast bowler, and Titas appears to be a promising successor. However, her true test will come when she faces players from SENA countries.
Recognizing the sluggish nature of the pitch, Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur initiated the bowling with off-spinner Sharma. Yet, the left-handed Athapaththu wasted no time in going on the offensive, launching a six with a slog sweep and adding a boundary off the very first over.
The captain decided to reintroduce her key pacers early on, and in just her second T20I appearance, Titas delivered a crucial breakthrough. She enticed Anushka Sanjeewani (1) into attempting a lofted drive, but the batter failed to reach the pitch of the delivery. A straightforward catch at mid-off was expertly taken by Harmanpreet.
The young talent then executed a delivery that angled in and dismantled Vishmi Gunaratne’s stumps (0). In her subsequent over, she adjusted her length, causing problems for Athapaththu. The ball held up, leading to an ill-fated slash that Deepti Sharma at extra cover managed to grasp at the edge of the circle.
Sri Lanka’s innings started on shaky ground, with the scoreboard reading 14 for 3. However, Hasini Perera (25 off 22 balls) quickly added some crucial runs, pushing her team past the 50-run mark before Rajeshwari Gayakwad’s clever delivery forced her into an uppish sweep, resulting in Sri Lanka losing their fourth wicket at 50.
Nilakshi de Silva (23 off 34 balls) and Oshadi Ranasinghe (19 off 26 balls) then combined for a 38-run partnership for the fifth wicket. However, the momentum shifted when Pooja Vastrakar dismissed de Silva, and Deepti Sharma outwitted Ranasinghe, both of whom attempted adventurous shots.
Earlier, Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur’s decision to bat first proved to be the right one, given that the pitch didn’t favor aggressive stroke-play and only became slower as the match progressed.
On a challenging pitch like this, accelerating the run rate against slow bowlers can be quite a task, and the Sri Lankan team had a surplus of such bowlers in their lineup.
Smriti Mandhana (46 off 45 balls), who managed four boundaries and a six, partnered effectively with Jemimah Rodrigues (42 off 40 balls), amassing a commendable 73-run partnership for the second wicket.To combat the sluggishness of the pitch, both Mandhana and Rodrigues cleverly utilized the sweep shot, achieving some success with it.
Mandhana appeared to be in fine form until she sustained an injury while completing a quick single. Following that, her footwork against the spinners wasn’t as precise as it was earlier in her innings.
Mandhana’s eventual dismissal came as a result of one too many slog sweeps. Richa Ghosh made an explosive start with a six but couldn’t maintain her innings for long.
Harmanpreet Kaur’s limited recent match experience was apparent as she faced difficulties during her brief stint at the crease. Nevertheless, in the end, the total proved sufficient to secure a second gold medal for the Indian team at the Games.
