Sri Lanka Wins Maiden Asia Cup: Athapaththu and Samarawickrama Shine
India posted 165-6 while batting first courtesy of Smriti Mandhana’s half-century, however, Athapaththu and Samarawickrama’s half-centuries helped Sri Lanka to lift their maiden Women’s Asia Cup title.
After opting to bat first, Shafali Verma and Mandhana gave a decent start with a 44-run opening stand before Kavisha Dilhari removed Verma.
Mandhana remained firm on her end while India lost two more wickets on the other end before Jemimah Rodrigues joined the settled batter.
Jemimah Rodrigues scored a quick 29 off 16 during the 41-run partnership with Mandhana, however, both batters fell in the same over, leaving their team reeling at 133-5.
Mandhana top-scored with a 47-ball 60, which featured ten boundaries.
Richa Ghosh then struck a brilliant 30 from 14 balls with the help of four boundaries and one six to give a late push to India’s total as they scored 165-6 in 20 overs.
For Sri Lanka, Dilhari took two wickets while Athapaththu, Udeshika Prabodhani and Sachini Nisansala bagged one each.
While chasing, Sri Lanka lost Vishmi Gunaratne in the second over courtesy of a mix-up with Athapaththu.
However, the early blow did not matter much as Athapaththu and Samarawickrama raised a partnership of 87 for the second wicket.
Athapaththu played a 61-run knock from 43 balls with the help of nine boundaries and two sixes before Deepti Sharma castled her with 94 runs on the board.
Dilhari joined Samarawickrama and together they steered Sri Lanka to a comfortable victory with an unbeaten stand of 73 runs from 40 balls.
Samarawickrama top-scored with a 51-ball 69, which included six boundaries and two sixes, while Dilhari struck 30 off 16.
