Richa Ghosh’s late attack and India’s classy spin departments went together to clinch another Asian Games gold for the women’s team. The previous game’s final was a one-sided affair as India won Sri Lanka’s reminder by 147 runs at Korogi Sports Park.
India’s victory was a massive one, as evidenced by Sri Lanka’s failure to mount a chase. The island nation had entered the final after making a superb start in the semi where they were responsible for a great pursuit, but the Indian attack did not allow for a repeat performance. Chamari Athapaththu was the only name of relevance as Sri Lanka found it hard to form a strong partnership and drew wickets frequently.
Scoring against Deepti Sharma was a tough job as the bowler took three wickets for just six runs. When the momentum of the Sri Lankan innings started to wane, Shree Charani and Shreyanka Patil took two wickets each while Shafali Verma took one as well to take the Indian lead.
The harm done already with the bat. The cumulative 216 included 13 sixes, which was a record match for India in T20I category. The 19-run deficit from the top score failed to pose any difficulty for the bowlers to attack freely as the total was more than sufficient for them.
Smriti Mandhana had a big part in the Indian blitz and scored the 79 from 45 balls. She made an early 50 off 30 deliveries in her innings and was a major contributor of a 99-run first stand with Shafali Verma.
Verma followed with an excellent tournament, with her 100 in the semi-final. She made 48 from 29 balls, hitting three sixes and three fours, before a mistimed reverse sweep brought her innings to an end.
The middle order, however, didn’t replicate the same scoring pace right after the bowlers from the openers. Harmanpreet Kaur was able to score 19 while Mandhana was caught in the deep and failed to get a century. But those defeats were more than compensated for by Ghosh’s explosive finish.
He was unbeaten on 49 off 22 balls, taking six fours and three sixes off him. She scored 25 runs in the last over to give India a daunting 250 tally.
India defended the gold medal in the women’s cricket for the first time in Asian Games history. The depth of the side was also emphasised as they laid a strong foundation with aggressive opening bats, provided a late boost with Ghosh and ended with a disciplined spin side.
