Fans went wild as dominant Sri Lanka defeated India to win their first Women’s Asia Cup 2024 title

Sri Lanka qualified for the Women’s Asia Cup 2024, defeating India by eight wickets in the final at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium. Although India played well in the group stage and in the semi-final against Bangladesh, Sri Lanka came up with a high-quality game. Key performances by Chamari Athapaththu and Harshitha Samarawickrama ensured Sri Lanka’s victory in the tournament.

India sets a challenging goal

After being asked to bat first, India posted a total of 165 for six in their allotted 20 overs. Smriti Mandhana, continuing her good form from the semi-final, laid a solid foundation with a stunning knock of 60 off 47 balls, with 10 boundaries. Mandhana’s opening partnership of 44 runs set the tone for India’s innings.

However, the middle order is struggling as Uma Chetry and Harmanpreet Kaur failed to make a significant contribution. Despite these odds, Jemimah Rodrigues and Richa Ghosh stopped the ship. Rodriguez scored a quickfire 29 off 16 balls, while Ghosh added 30 off 14 balls, ensuring India maintained their momentum. Kavisha Dilhari was Sri Lanka’s top bowler, with 4-0-36-2, while Udeshika Prabodhani, Sachini Nisansala, and Chamari Athapaththu took a wicket each.

Sri Lanka’s chase: A combination of stability and aggression

Sri Lanka’s run got off to a rough start as Vishmi Gunaratne got out early. However, Athapaththu and Samarawickrama held the innings, making a partnership of 87 runs for the second wicket. Athapaththu, who scored more than 300 runs in the tournament, reached his half-century in just 32 balls, showing his aggressive intent.

Deepti Sharma gave India the breakthrough, knocking Athapaththu to his feet with 61 runs off 43 balls. Despite this setback, Sri Lanka needed 72 runs from the last eight overs. Samarawickrama held the reins, unbeaten on 69 runs. Dilhari played a key supporting role, contributing an unbeaten 30 off 16 balls. This ensured that Sri Lanka reached their target with eight balls to spare, ending their four-match losing streak against India in the Women’s Asia Cup final.

Historic Title of the 2024 Asian Women’s Cup

The victory marked Sri Lanka’s resurgence in the Women’s Asia Cup, with their only other non-Indian winner being Bangladesh in 2018. This win not only showed Sri Lanka’s cricketing prowess but also highlighted their ability to perform under pressure. The final was a testament to their skill and determination, as they overcame a formidable Indian team to claim the prestigious title.

Here’s how fans reacted:

#cricket #TestCricket #ENGvWI Stumps on day two, West Indies 33-2, still 61 adrift. A wonderful batting change by Root, Stokes, Smith and Woakes and a good mini-session with the ball (could have been more than two wickets) and England are in control.

– Thomas Sutcliffe (@aspitweets) July 27, 2024

What a game‼️🇱🇰 Sri Lanka Women are in the 2024 Asia Cup! 🏆 Historic win against India. Congratulations to the entire Sri Lankan team for this amazing achievement. Women of India, you fought bravely and were excellent runners.#AsiaCup2024 #SLVIND pic.twitter.com/0ljwGk9ZNY

— Vimukthi Dushantha 🇱🇰 (@IamVimukthi) July 28, 2024

What a beautiful blood Sri Lanka!

A full house is eager for the cricket team to get back and in Dambulla to watch their ladies come home #AsiaCup2024 🏆

Over the moon for Chamari and the team. What is the result and with #T20WorldCup in the corner 🙌

— Daniel Beswick (@DGBeswick1) July 28, 2024

Sri Lanka women’s team showing they are not just a one-man team … showing talent without Chamari Athapaththu … #AsiaCup2024

– Shahid Hashmi (@hashmi_shahid) July 28, 2024

🏆 Historic Victory! Sri Lanka women’s team wins first ever Asia Cup title, beating India 🇱🇰🏏 pic.twitter.com/vdl2736pBk

– Azzam Ameen (@AzzamAmeen) July 28, 2024

What a victory. I thought it would be close but this is a canter. An incredible effort from @OfficialSLC women. What a moment for Sri Lanka. @58Chamari Harshitha and Kavisha and the team that made history. pic.twitter.com/yEsMz7rdyj

— Kumar Sangakkara (@KumarSanga2) July 28, 2024

Sri Lanka is the first team in the history of women’s T20I to successfully chase down the 150plus target in the final of the tournament. #AsiaCup2024

— Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad) July 28, 2024

don’t overlook SL winning the Asia Cup because of the growth they have had in the last 6 months. but I pay attention to the way we lost in this game. playing sloppy, giving all the SL batsmen short balls, and showing NO signs of fighting back when the opposition came in full concentration. badly

— s (@_sectumsempra18) July 28, 2024

Harmanpreet Kaur, your 171* against Australia was great, but that was seven years ago. A team cannot continue to carry the weight of that innings forever. Your captaincy has failed. Time to step down and let someone else take the lead.#AsiaCup

– Kuch Bhi!!!! (@KirkutExpert99) July 28, 2024

Sri Lanka Women lift their first ever Asia Cup trophy by beating India in the final 🏆👏#women #cricket #INDvSL #ChamariAthapaththu #SriLankaCricket #CricketTwitter #Women’s cricket pic.twitter.com/aSdY7ISISz

– WomenCricket.com (@WomenCricketHQ) July 28, 2024

SRI LANKA IS THE CHAMPION IN ASIA…!!!!

– This is Captain Chamari Athapaththu’s. 🫡 pic.twitter.com/dm9iZsh0ga

— John. (@CricCrazyJohns) July 28, 2024

This article was originally published on WomenCricket.com, a Cricket Times company.