With their thrilling victory against Sri Lanka in the T20 World Cup, the much-maligned Indian team—many people have predicted them to be the primary challengers to Australia’s dominance—started to demonstrate why.
In Dubai on Wednesday, Captain Harmanpreet Kaur struck a brilliant half-century to lead India to their greatest-ever victory in the competition—an 82-run thumping. After winning her first toss of the competition and choosing to bat, Kaur hammered an unbeaten 52 off just 27 balls, leading India to a 3-172 victory.
After that, they bowled Sri Lanka out for just 90 runs in 19.5 overs, eliminating any hope the Asian Cup holders had of advancing to the next round. After two wins and a surprising loss to New Zealand in Group A, India’s massive win improved their previous high 79-run victory against Bangladesh in the 2014 tournament. It also increased their net run rate to 0.576.
With four points, India is currently tied for second place behind Australia. The victory increases their prospects of making it to the semi-finals. Smriti Mandhana (50) and Shafali Verma (43), India’s opening duo, set a robust platform with a combined 98 runs off 76 balls.
Both batsmen fell off consecutive deliveries after Mandhana was run out, and Verma was caught in the covers by Sri Lankan captain Chamari Athapaththu’s off-spin.
However, in the final five overs, Kaur—who injured her neck during India’s victory over Pakistan—bludgeoned pace and spin, hitting eight boundaries and an 84-meter six over beyond midwicket.
With five overs remaining, India amassed 59 runs, and she celebrated her half-century with a boundary off the penultimate ball. Renuka Singh, a fast bowler, took two wickets in her opening two overs, and Athapaththu edged off-spinner Shreyanka Patil to the only slip as Sri Lanka’s chase got off to a catastrophic start at 3-6.
Leg-spinner Asha Sobhana and fast bowler Arundhati Reddy finished with identical figures of 3-19 as India decisively defeated Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup final to exact revenge.
With 21 points, Kavisha Dilhari led all scorers, followed by Anushka Sanjeewani with 20, and Ama Kanchana (19) as the only other standout performers for Sri Lanka.