India eye eighth title win in Women’s T20 Asia Cup final against Sri Lanka
Seven-time champions India will look to Shafali Verma and Deepti Sharma to deliver once again when they take on a resilient Sri Lanka in the Women’s T20 Asia Cup final here on Sunday.
With 168 runs including two fifties, Shafali has not only been India’s best batter but also the leading run-scorer in this iteration of the continental event, going about her task unfazed by the slow and spin-friendly nature of the wickets here at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Even as Smriti Mandhana (154) has blown hot and cold for having struck a brilliant century but also two single-digit scores, Shafali has been able to maintain consistency with the bat.
More importantly, Shafali has relatively executed her strokes with ease in games where others around her have struggled.
Deepti, the tournament’s leading wicket-taker alongside Sri Lanka skipper Chamari Athapaththu with 11 wickets each, has been at the forefront of India’s bowling attack. Even with the bat, the senior Indian all-rounder has been a key presence. Her six-ball 13 against Bangladesh in the semifinal was instrumental in pushing the total close to the 150-mark. With the parsimonious Shree Charani in the mix and Prema Rawat also finding her rhythm, Deepti leads the all-important spin attack which has played a dominant role in several matches of this tournament.
While both teams have wind in their sails having gone undefeated so far in their march to the final, India will be wary of the gritty Sri Lanka side which had handed them a crushing eight-wicket defeat in the last edition’s final in 2024. Athapaththu’s side has displayed the same determination that their skipper has shown throughout her chequered career, with the most recent example being their perseverance to secure a win over Pakistan against the odds in the semifinal.
Being reduced to 5/2 inside the first two overs and slipping further to 33/4 in the seventh, Sri Lanka did not give up the chase of 131.
Harshitha Samarawickrama top-scored with 36 and found strong support from Kavisha Dilhari (33) at the other end to put Sri Lanka back on track, and the pair of Nilakshika Silva and Kaushini Nuthyangana finished the chase with calmness and composure in a tricky finish.
Two years ago in Dambulla, it was Harshitha who had teamed up with Athapaththu to defy India in the final, with both the Sri Lankan batters hitting half-centuries in a tall run chase.
With most of the players from the 2024 final finding themselves in the summit clash once again, Harmanpreet Kaur’s team would be determined to give no quarter, but there are some major concerns to address as well.
India came into the tournament with questions hovering over their collective batting form and sloppy fielding. Keeping aside Shafali’s form and Mandhana’s century two games ago, India would still need more from their other batters who have regularly failed to convert starts, along with a failure to find boundaries regularly.
Fielding still remains a major concern with India dropping four catches in the semifinal against a lowly Bangladesh, with two of them being spilled by Pratika Rawal.
Earlier, against Pakistan, India dropped three catches while restricting their arch-rivals to their lowest-ever T20I total.
Even against Thailand in their tournament opener, India had spilled two catches, which puts the number of dropped chances to an overall nine in four matches so far.
Teams (from):
India: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Bharti Fulmali, Richa Ghosh (wk), Gunalan Kamalini (wk), Pratika Rawal, Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Kranti Gaud, Prema Rawat, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh Thakur, Nandani Sharma, Shree Charani, Radha Yadav.
Sri Lanka: Chamari Athapaththu (c), Harshitha Samarawickrama (vc), Imesha Dulani, Vishmi Gunaratne, Kaushini Nuthyangana (wk), Sanjana Kavindi, Hasini Perera, Nilakshika Silva, Kavisha Dilhari, Mithali Ayodhya, Kawya Kavindi, Sugandika Kumari, Nimasha Meepage, Chamudi Praboda, Chethana Vimukhti.
Match starts at 8:00pm IST.
