CHENNAI: It was always expected to be a comfortable victory for India. Unless their skipper Chamari Athapaththu went berserk with the bat, the Lankans had very little chance on the slow surface that was on offer in the final of the Asia Cup in Bangladesh. But once she was run out early, the match was going only one way.
Deepti Sharma planted the seeds of doubts early on with the new ball before seamer Renuka Thakur took charge. The seamer — not amongst wickets on turning conditions — adjusted well and used the change of pace well to finish with three wickets for just five runs as Sri Lanka was reduced to 16/5. From thereon, they scrapped their way to 65/9 in 20 overs.
Despite losing Shafali Verma and Jemimah Rodrigues early, India had no trouble. Smriti Mandhana hit an unbeaten 25-ball 51 to take them across the line in 8.3 overs as India won their seventh Asia Cup title with eight wickets to spare.
Jemimah Rodrigues and Deepti were the biggest highlights for India. While the former scored 217 runs, Deepti accounted for 93 runs and 13 wickets. India does not have any international assignments for the next 45 days. Some of the players — Jemimah, Pooja Vastrakar and Harmanpreet Kaur — will be travelling to Australia for the Women’s Big Bash League.
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Meanwhile, the rest, except for Mandhana who might be opting to rest, could join their respective domestic sides for the ongoing senior women’s T20 trophy before the group stages come to an end.
Brief scores: Sri Lanka 65/9 in 20 ovs (Renuka 3/5) lost to India 71/2 in 8.3 ovs (Mandhana 51 n.o).