India Women and Sri Lanka Women both qualified for the finals of the Women’s Asia Cup held in Dambulla. Going by the history of the Women’s Asia Cup, India has had a great legacy, as they were the only champions crowned for over 6 editions until 2016.
It was only in 2018 that Bangladesh women beat India women to win their only major international title. India Women under Harmanpreet Kaur retained their title in 2022 and were also considered the favourites for the Asia Cup final in 2024.
Sri Lanka got past Pakistan Women in a majorly contested semi-final, while India Women seemed too tough an opponent for Bangladesh Women, as both teams had a face-off in the Finals. This was India’s chance to increase their title cabinet to 8, while Sri Lanka women put on a stunning performance to win their first-ever Asia Cup title.
Women’s Asia Cup Final 2024
A Summary of the IND W vs. SL W Match of the Women’s Asia Cup
Sri Lanka Women put on the Indian Women to bat, where Indian opener Smriti Mandhana put on a fighting start to the Indian innings as other batters fell to the Sri Lankan attack. Despite facing trouble upfront, Mandhana led from the front, as India Women laid a good score behind Jemmimah Rodrigues’ and Richa Ghosh’s decent finish to the total.
Coming on to chase a 166-run total, Sri Lankan opener Gunaratne fell quickly, as the Lankan skipper Athapaththu led from the front with 61 runs to his tally. However, India’s women seemed to have a bounce-back chance when the skipper fell to ace Indian spinner Deepti Sharma, though Sri Lanka’s young talent Harshitha Samarawickrama, alongside all-rounder Dilhari, scored runs quickly towards the back of the innings.
Both the batters put on a partnership of 73 runs for the third wicket, which gave Sri Lanka Women the perfect finish they needed. With this, Chamari Athapaththu’s side lifted the Women’s Asia Cup title for the first time at home soil.
Stunning Performers of the Women’s Asia Cup
The Lankan opener and skipper is the best batsman of the competition, as she went on to top the table, going past his competitors by a huge margin. Athapaththu, who has been in stunning form over the past few years across competitions, reportedly scored 304 runs in the 5 games played in the Asia Cup 2024.
While India’s experienced and most deserving spin bowling all-rounder, Deepti Sharma, who is often considered their best, picked the most wickets with 10 wickets from 5 games. Lankan Women’s Kavisha Dilhari also did not end far behind, as she picked nine wickets as well.
Harshitha Samarawickrama was awarded the Player of the Match award for her stunning show put on in the finals, while Sri Lankan skipper Chamari Athapaththu was awarded Player of the Series as she was undoubtedly the pioneer reason behind Lankan women’s major success in the tournament.