In the women’s Asia Cup final here on Sunday, Smirti Mandhana’s conditions-defying half-century helped India to a valiant 165 for six against Sri Lanka.
After captain Harmanpreet Kaur elected to bat, Mandhana (60, 47b, 10×4), Jemimah Rodrigues (29, 16 balls, 3×4, 1×6), and Richa Ghosh (30, 14 balls, 4×4, 1×6) led the reigning champions India in a close battle against a multitude of Lankan spinners.
Actually, Udeshika Prabodhani was the sole pacer on the home team; all other bowlers were slow-ball players.
In fact, the sluggish pitch was well-utilized by the Lankan bowlers, who frequently strangled the ordinarily free-flowing Indian hitters.
With her conditions-defying half-century, Smirti Mandhana propelled India to a fiThe problems of Shafali Verma (16, 19 balls), who struggled to timing her shots, made it clear.
Harshitha Samarawickrama put Mandhana down at covers after a weak chip off spinner Kavisha Dilhari gave her a huge slice of luck early in the session.
With some stunning blows, particularly against Prabodhani, the left-hander made the hosts pay for their oversight as India reached 44 for no loss in the sixth over.
However, Verma was pinned on her pads while attempting to adjust the on-side, and she soon lost consciousness before Dilhari.
The ball was not exactly coming on to her bat, and the Indian vice-captain frequently had to make room for herself or slide across the stumps to find the ropes.
Although Mandhana overcame the deck’s slowness, Harmanpreet and Uma Chetry were devoured, with Uma Chetry moving up to the No. 3 spot.
India needed a move on when they were 87 for three in the 12th over, and they got one from an aggressive Rodrigues and Mandhana, who scored 41 runs off 25 balls for the fourth wicket.
But when Mandhana was removed and Rodrigues was run out, India was reduced to 133 for five in 16.5 overs.
During his usual quick innings, Ghosh hit a huge six from Dilhari over the mid-wicket with a slog sweep.
Ghosh milked 31 runs for the vital sixth wicket stand with Pooja Vastrakar, which helped India beyond 160 runs, a total that may need a very valiant chase from the Lankans to surpass.
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