IND-W Vs SL-W Final, Women's T20 Asia Cup 2024: India Go Down As Sri Lanka Women Clinch Maiden Title - As It Happened

Sri Lanka Women: Vishmi Gunaratne, Chamari Athapaththu(c), Harshitha Samarawickrama, Kavisha Dilhari, Nilakshi de Silva, Anushka Sanjeewani(w), Hasini Perera, Sugandika Kumari, Achini Kulasuriya, Inoshi Priyadharshani, Udeshika Prabodhani, Ama Kanchana, Sachini Nisansala, Kawya Kavindi, Shashini Gimhani

India Women: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Uma Chetry, Harmanpreet Kaur(c), Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh(w), Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Radha Yadav, Tanuja Kanwar, Renuka Thakur Singh, S Sajana, Dayalan Hemalatha, Arundhati Reddy, Asha Sobhana

India's skipper Harmanpreet Kaur won the all-important toss in the final and has opted to have a bat. India go into the final unchanged, while Sri Lanka bring Sachini Nisansala for Achini Kulasuriya.

India Women (Playing XI): Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Uma Chetry, Harmanpreet Kaur(c), Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh(w), Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Radha Yadav, Tanuja Kanwar, Renuka Thakur Singh

Sri Lanka Women (Playing XI): Vishmi Gunaratne, Chamari Athapaththu(c), Harshitha Samarawickrama, Kavisha Dilhari, Nilakshi de Silva, Anushka Sanjeewani(w), Hasini Perera, Sugandika Kumari, Inoshi Priyadharshani, Udeshika Prabodhani, Sachini Nisansala

India are up and running in the final of the 2024 Women's Asia Cup with openers Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, start off on a decent note with the ball in the first over.

India have started to take the cautious approach, but it Sri Lanka have been brilliant with the ball and have been super disciplined, bowling to their fields. Looks like we have a great contest on our hands.

And just like that, it is India's powerplay. Sri Lanka stuck to their plans for the first five overs but Smriti Mandhana hit three boundaries in the sixth over. India now have 46 on the board.

At the ten over mark, India are 68 for the loss of two wickets with Smriti Mandhana batting on 38* and Harmanpreet Kaur unbeaten on five. The game is placed well and anything around 150-160 should be par.

Yet another day, yet another fifty for Smriti Mandhana. She now has the second most in international women's cricket. India will have their hopes pinned on the opener to take them to a good, respectable total.

Jemimah Rodrigues shifted gears and targeted Inoshi Priyadharshani to collect 14 runs from her over which also included three boundaries.

IND-W - 114/3 (15)

Kavisha Dilhari came to bowl her third over and Jemimah Rodrigues lost her wicket on the first delivery while taking a double. Smriti Mandhana was also dismissed on the fifty delivery of the over. Richa Ghosh and Pooja Vastrakar are at the crease.

IND-W - 134/5 (17)

Richa Ghosh targeted Kavisha Dilhari and smashed three boundaries in the penultimate over to collect 18 runs. India women eye for a big total from here.

IND-W - 158/5 (19)

Richa Ghosh gave a solid start to the final over but she was caught out on the 4th delivery. India women have managed to post 165 runs on the board. Now, they need to defend this total.

IND-W - 165/6 (20)

Brief Score: IND-W - 165/6 (20)

Smriti Mandhana - 60 (47), Richa Ghosh - 30 (14) | Kavisha Dilhari - (4-0-36-2)

Renuka Thakur Singh came to bowl the first over of the Indian inning as Vishmi Gunaratne and Chamari Athapaththu opened the batting for Sri Lanka women. Singh conceded five runs in the first over including a boundary.

SL-W - 5/0 (1)

Pooja Vastrakar came into the attack in the second over and she bowled in tight areas and kept the batters at bay. Vishmi Gunaratne got involved in a horrible run-out as Chamari Athapaththu called her for a single then declined.

SL-W - 7/1 (2)

Spin was introduced in the third over and Deepti Sharma conceded six runs from her over. Then Vastrakar came to bowl her second over in the powerplay and she failed to take a wicket. She conceded five runs from the over.

SL-W - 28/1 (5)

Harshitha Samarawickrama and Chamari Athapaththu have managed to build a partnership that needs to be broken otherwise they may prove to be very harmful to the Indian side.

SL-W - 61/1 (8)

Chamari Athapaththu completed her half-century in style with a boundary. Now, the match is at the halfway stage and Sri Lanka women still need 86 runs off 10 overs.

SL-W - 80/1 (10)

Deepti Sharma got rid of Chamari Athapaththu and India got their second wicket. Deepti was called back into the attack for her third over and Athapaththu smashed her for a couple of boundaries before she bowled her on the last delivery of the over.

SL-W - 94/2 (12)

Pooja Vastrakar was called back into the attack to bowl the 14th over and she conceded 14 runs from it. Harshitha Samarawickrama used her pace and hit a four then a six to start the over. Sri Lanka women still need 53 runs off 36 balls.

SL-W - 113/2 (14)

Sri Lanka women still need 34 runs to win the match in four overs. Deepti Sharma's overs are completed. Now the onus on Tanuja Kanwar, Pooja Vastrakar and Renuka Thakur Singh.

SL-W - 132/2 (16)

Harshitha Samarawickrama completed her fifty in 43 balls in the 17th over. Tanuja Kanwar came to bowl her last over and conceded nine runs. Now, Sri Lanka women need 25 runs off 18 balls.

SL-W - 141/2 (17)

It was certainly not Radha Yadav's day. She leaked 17 runs in her last over and now India need to defend eight runs off the last two overs.

SL-W - 158/2 (18)

With just eight runs to defend in the last two overs, Pooja Vastrakar tried her best but it was not meant to be as Kavisha Dilhari hit the winning runs. She smashed a six over long-on to bring Sri Lanka women their first-ever Asia Cup title.

SL-W - 167/2 (18.4)

The hosts finally secured an Asia Cup title after defeating the neighbours India in the summit clash. The record seven-time champions India women ended as runner-ups.

166 vs IND-W, Dambulla, 2024
156 vs SA-W, East London, 2024
148 vs IND-W, Vizianagaram, 2014
141 vs NZ-W, Colombo (PSS), 2023
141 vs PAK-W, Dambulla, 2024

She was very happy that she scored in this game, she had a failure in the past. She was determined to score against India in the final and she succeeded. When she was out with Kavisha, she wanted to play positive cricket and it worked out perfectly. She is very thankful that there was the freedom to play.

We played good cricket throughout the tournament and no doubt, we made a lot of fumbles today and that cost us. It was a decent total, we were looking for breakthroughs in the powerplay but it didn't go according to plan and Sri Lanka batted really well. (On looking forward to the upcoming World Cup) We are looking to improve in some areas, we will definitely work hard and remember this day. They have played such good cricket from so much time and they played good cricket throughout this tournament.

I'm feeling happy, I'm happy about my team's performance, especially the batting. Special thanks to Harshita and Dilhari for their performance. It's not a one-man show, the coaching staff has been great and finally we have won the Asia Cup. Special thanks to the Sri Lanka crowd, they supported our girls and I'm really happy. This win is really good for our team, we have to inspire girls in the future, so it's special for Sri Lanka. It's my duty to lead from the front, that's my duty for the country and my team. We talk positive things in the dressing room, and the coach and support staff talk positive things in the dressing room, thanks to them. (On if she plans to play for long?) Yeah, hopefully till the next 50-over World Cup.

Chamari Athapaththu is the Player of the Series for her commendable performance throughout the series. She made over 300 runs in the Women's T20 Asia Cup 2024 and also received three POTM awards in the tournament.

Sri Lanka women were awarded the prize of 1,00,000 USD by Sri Lanka Cricket. We will also be taking your leave. Goodnight and take care.