Indian women’s Cricket Team made history in the Asian Games by winning a Gold Medal for India for the first time since the sport was introduced. India defeated Sri Lanka in the finals by 19 runs, thanks to batting performances from Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues who powered India to 116/7. Titas Sandhu came out with a dream spell of 3/6 in her four overs to break the back of Sri Lankan batting. Smriti Mandhana led the team in the first two matches in the absence of Harmanpreet Kaur.
The matches took place at the Zhejiang University of Technology Pingfeng Cricket Field in Hangzhou, where India was admitted directly to the quarterfinals by virtue of their rankings. Bangladesh beat Pakistan in the bronze medal match to secure the third place. Vice-Captain Smriti Mandhana led the team in the first two matches, with Harmanpreet Kaur returning to lead them in the finals.
Really happy that we could contribute to the medal tally of the Indian contingent. Gold is Gold. Really happy that we gave our best today – Smriti Mandhana
Smriti Mandhana was interacting with the media after their victory in the finals and said that it was an emotional moment for her personally, and for the team. The left-hander went on to say that it was a special occasion for the team when the National Anthem was played during the medal ceremony and that they were happy to have contributed to India’s medal tally.
“This is very special. We have seen this on TV. When Neeraj Chopra won the gold, I had a match…The manner in which the national anthem was played and India’s national flag went up, I think it was pretty special and I had tears in my eyes” said Smriti Mandhana.
The Indian cricket team is making its debut in the Asian Games at Huangzhou in the game of Cricket even though the discipline has been featured in two previous editions of the games.
“Really happy that we could contribute to the medal tally of the Indian contingent. Gold is Gold. Really happy that we gave our best today” Mandhana added.
The pitch for the finals was offering uneven bounce and did not offer much assistance for batters. Chamari Attappattu gave Sri Lanka a brilliant start but was promptly dismissed by Sandhu. Sri Lanka eventually fell short by 19 runs with India winning their first ever Gold Medal in cricket in the Asian Games.