IND W vs SL W: Indian women's cricket team win GOLD on debut against Sri Lanka at Asian Games

In their debut appearance at the 2023 Asian Games, the Indian women's cricket team successfully defended their modest score of 116 against Sri Lanka women, clinching victory by 19 runs at the Pingfeng Campus Cricket Field in Hangzhou, China. This triumph marks their gold medal win in the Asian Games, following a second-place finish in the Commonwealth Games last year.

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Despite facing a challenging pitch for batting, India emerged victorious in testing conditions. Opting to bat first, India Women suffered an early setback with the dismissal of Shafali Verma. However, a resilient partnership between Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues helped them post a respectable total, despite losing several wickets in the closing stages of their innings. Both Mandhana and Jemimah fell in their forties, or else, India may have posted a higher total than the 116 achieved.

In response, Sri Lanka got off to a flying start, scoring 12 runs in the opening over as Chamari Athapaththu struck a powerful six against Deepti Sharma. However, the introduction of Titas Sadhu turned the tide in India's favour. 

She emerged as the standout bowler, capturing three crucial wickets that disrupted the backbone of the Sri Lankan batting lineup. Her spell, which read 4-1-6-2, choked the Sri Lankan batters, resulting in them falling short of the target by 19 runs.

Despite a partnership between Hasini Perera and Nilakshi de Silva that posed a threat to the Indian bowlers, Rajeshwari Gayakwad dismissed Perera for 25 runs. Pooja Vastrakar then removed Nilakshi de Silva for 23 runs, swinging the game back in India's favour.

Subsequently, the Indian bowlers maintained tight control, preventing the Sri Lankan batters from scoring boundaries and taking crucial wickets. Oshadi Ranasinghe (19), Kavisha Dilhari (5), and Sugandika Kumari (5) couldn't make significant contributions as India restricted Sri Lanka to 97/8 in their allotted 20 overs.