Indian women’s cricket team skipper Harmanpreet Kaur points out fumbles leading to India’s defeat in the Asia Cup 2024 finale against Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka clinched the first Asia Cup trophy, defeating seven-time champions India.
Indian women have dominated the Asia Cup tournament since 2004, winning it seven times. In the competition with eight editions before the current one, Indi only lost once in 2018 to Bangladeshi women. In the ninth edition, India faced defeat by Sri Lanka by eight wickets. India put forward a total of 165. Sri Lanka pulled the match by losing only two wickets with eight balls remaining. Harshitha Samarawickrama sliced 69 runs off her bat in 51 balls.
Harmanpreet Kaur Praises Sri Lanka’s Batting
India looked strong at the commencement of the 2024 Asia Cup tournament. Harmanpreet Kaur and company started off the season with a win against Pakistani women, restricting them to 108 runs. India chased down the total in 14.1 overs, giving Pakistan a hard time. In the second match against UAE, India won by a big margin of 78 runs. Talking of India’s third game of the league stage, India was facing Nepal, where India scored 178 runs, choosing to bat first. Nepal could merely score 78 runs in the chase, losing the game by 82 runs.
India qualified for the semi-finals after the win. In the semi-final, India had to face Bangladesh. The match between the two nations was a one-sided affair. India easily knocked out Bangladesh, as the neighbors could merely put 80 runs on the scoreboard in the first innings. In reply to the score, India chased down the total in just 11 overs, winning it by ten wickets.
While Indian women’s qualification for the finals was expected, Sri Lankan women put forward some impressive performances throughout the tournament. Sri Lanka won all three of their league matches, defeating Bangladesh, Malaysia, and Thailand. During their league games, the Sri Lankan women delivered some extraordinary performances. Chamari Athapaththu created history by becoming the first woman to score a century in the T20 Asia Cup competition.
In the finale between India and Sri Lanka, team India’s captain, Harmanpreet Kaur, won the toss and decided to bat first. India’s young, talented opener, Shafali Verma, could score only 16 runs off 19 balls. However, Smriti Mandhana picked up the innings, hitting ten fours. She scored 60 off 47 deliveries. Apart from Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues (29 off 16) and Richa Ghosh (30 off 14) accelerated the scoreboard. Therefore, India’s score after 20 overs was 165/6.
In reply to India’s total, the Sri Lankan women didn’t have a great start as the opening batter, Vishmi Gunaratne, had to return to the pavilion, getting run out. However, Chamari Athapaththu and Harshitha Samarawickrama accelerated the chase with a partnership of 87 runs. Chamari Athapaththu scored 61 off 43 balls, which includes nine fours and two maximums. In addition, Harshitha Samarawickrama slashed 69 off 51 deliveries. Her score consists of six fours and two sixes. Moreover, Kavisha Dilhari played a brilliant knock of 30 off 16 deliveries, which included one four and two sixes. The three Sri Lankan women made it easy for the nation during the chase and ended up closing it in 18.4 overs.
Talking of the defeat in the finale, Harmanpreet Kaur pointed out a few fumbles in the match. Harmanpreet Kaur acknowledged the cricket they played in league stages till the semifinal. However, the skipper was disappointed with their performance in the finale.
Harmanpreet Kaur said India had put up a decent target on board. In addition, the Indian skipper also praised Sri Lankan’s batting, which had to toughen India’s efforts on the ground. Harmanpreet Kaur also admitted to having blunders in the final match. Indian team struggled with fielding. Lastly, Harmanpreet Kaur congratulated Sri Lanka and lauded the team for playing good cricket for a while. India remains the most successful team in winning Asia Cup titles. In the post-match presentation, Harmanpreet Kaur said,
“We played good cricket throughout the tournament, but today we made a lot of fumbles. It was a decent total. Sri Lanka batted really well and didn’t make it easy for us. There are a lot of areas we can improve upon, and we will remember this day” she added,
“Sri Lanka have been playing good cricket for quite some time. Congrats to them and credit goes to them”
Also Read: SL vs IND: 3 Reasons For Sri Lanka’s Terrible Defeat Against India