The Indian women faced off against Sri Lanka in the finals on Monday. In the final, the Indian Women’s cricket team defeated the Lankans to claim the Gold Medal for the country. The Women in Blue started their campaign in the Asian Games on a positive note, as they defeated Bangladesh in the semi-finals after a washout in the game against Malaysia. The win in the finals has led to a second gold medal for India in this edition of the Asian Games.

India won the toss and elected to bat with a strong batting lineup including Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, and Jemimah Rodrigues, The Indians were confident of setting up a humongous target. The batting suffered an early blow as opener Shafali Verma got stumped at the score of 16 on the board. Despite losing an early wicket, Rodrigues and Smriti kept the scoreboard ticking. With four boundaries and a six Mandana was looking in perfect touch but fell prey to Ranaweera’s left arm spin on 45. Soon wickets started to fall, and as India suffered a batting collapse, they went from 89-2 to 116-7, setting a target of 117 for SL.

In a low-scoring tournament, this was a par score. The Indian bowling unit, led by the 19-year-old Titas Sadhu, troubled the Lankan top order. Due to a magical spell of Medium pace by Sadhu, the first three wickets fell with only 14 on the board. The Indian team, which was off to a flying start, was now struggling for wickets because the partnership between de Silva and Parera grew to 36. India fought back, as Gayakwad and Vastrakar dismissed both the batters. Sri Lanka only managed to score 97 runs in 20 overs. 

India claimed yet another gold, as they defeated Sri Lanka in yet another final of a multi-nation tournament. The golden run continues for India in the Asian Games as they have claimed 11 medals in total in just three days of the tournament. 

Read more about India’s Asian Games medal on: https://theindiasaga.com/sports/asian-games-indian-youngsters-claim-first-gold-for-the-country