India's women's cricket team wins gold against Sri Lanka by 19 runs.

(Image - google)

Rayat Samachar

Mumbai (Gurudutt Wakdekar) 26.9.2023

 The Indian women's cricket team faced Sri Lanka in the final of the 19th Asian Games. Team India won the gold medal for the first time by winning the match. India defeated Bangladesh by eight wickets in the first semi-final, and Sri Lanka secured their spot in the final by defeating defending champions Pakistan by six wickets in the second semi-final. Bangladesh defeated Pakistan in the bronze medal match. In the gold medal match, Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and decided to bat first. While replying to the target of 117 runs, the Sri Lankan team could only score 97 runs for eight wickets.

The Indian women's cricket team has won the gold medal in the ongoing 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou. India had set a target of 117 runs against Sri Lanka in the gold medal final. India scored 116 runs for the loss of seven wickets in 20 overs. Smriti Mandhana played the highest knock of 46 runs. Jemima Rodriguez scored 42 runs. In reply, the Sri Lankan team could only score 97 runs for the loss of 8 wickets in 20 overs. Thus Team India won the final match by 19 runs.

The Indian team, who won the toss and batted first, got off to a poor start. Shefali Verma was dismissed for 9 off 15 balls. Smriti then shared a partnership of 73 runs with Jemima for the second wicket. Ranveer broke this partnership. Three dismissed Mandhana. Mandhana scored 46 runs in 45 balls with the help of 4 fours and 1 six. At the same time, Richa Ghosh was dismissed for nine runs skipper Harmanpreet Kaur was dismissed for two runs and Pooja Vastrakar was dismissed for two runs. Jemimah Rodrigues scored 42 runs off 40 balls with the help of 5 fours. Deepti and Amanjot remained unbeaten with one run each. For Sri Lanka, Udeshika Prabodhani, Sugandhika Kumari and Inoka Ranveera took two wickets each.

The Sri Lankan team also got off to a poor start in reply. Titus Sadhu played brilliantly to send Chamari Atapattu (12), Anushka Sanjeevani (1), and Vishmi Gunaratne (0) to the tent quickly. After this, Hasini Perera and Nilakshi de Silva shared a partnership of 36 runs for the fourth wicket. Pooja broke the partnership by dismissing Nilakshi (23). Rajeshwari dismisses Hasini (25). Deepti dismissed Oshadi Ranasinghe (19), Devika Vaidya dismissed Kavisha Dilhari (5) and Rajeshwari dismissed Sugandhika Kumari to end Sri Lanka's hopes. Titus took the highest three wickets for India. Rajeshwari managed to take two wickets. Deepti, Pooja and Devika got one wicket each.

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