Asia Cup 2024: Sri Lanka stuns seven-time champions, beats India in final

Asia Cup 2024: Sri Lanka claimed their first Asia Cup title by defeating seven-time champions India on Sunday. The victory was anchored by stellar performances from Harshitha Samarawickrama and captain Chamari Athapaththu, who both scored brisk half-centuries to secure an eight-wicket win in Dambulla.

India's strong start

India set a challenging target of 165/6 in their 20 overs. Smriti Mandhana continued her excellent form and scored consecutive half-centurys, while Richa Ghosh provided a strong finish. Despite these efforts, Sri Lanka's bowlers managed to strike at crucial moments and prevented India from gaining momentum.

Athapaththu leads charge

Chamari Athapaththu was instrumental in Sri Lanka's chase. She scored 61 runs off 43 balls. Her aggressive batting set the tone for the innings, forming a crucial 87-run partnership that laid the foundation for the chase. Athapaththu's confident strokes and strategic placement of shots kept pressure on the Indian bowlers from the start.

Harshitha's redemption

Harshitha Samarawickrama, who had earlier dropped catches of both Mandhana and Ghosh, made a remarkable comeback with a match-winning 69 not out. After losing her captain, Harshitha took charge and accelerated the run rate ensuring Sri Lanka reached the target with eight balls to spare. 

Kavisha Dilhari also played a vital role, contributing 30 not out to the successful chase. On the bowling front, she took 2 wickets for 36 runs, disrupting India's batting line-up at key moments.

For India, Deepti Sharma managed to take a wicket, but the overall bowling performance couldn't contain the determined Sri Lankan batters. Mandhana's 60 and Ghosh's 30 were notable performances, but they weren't enough to defend the total set by India.

Brief Scorecard

India 165/6 in 20 overs (Smriti Mandhana 60, Richa Ghosh 30, Jemimah Rodrigues 29; Kavisha Dilhari 2-36) lost to Sri Lanka 167/2 in 18.4 overs (Harshitha Samarawickrama 69*, Chamari Athapaththu 61, Kavisha Dilhari 30*'; Deepti Sharma 1-30) by 8 wickets.