The Indian women’s cricket team scripted history as they clinched the first-ever Asian Games gold on Monday in Hangzhou, China. The Harmanpreet Kaur-led side thrashed Sri Lanka by 19 runs to win the country’s first gold medal in the women’s cricket event at the Asiad.
The gold medal in Asian Games is a huge prize for the Indian women’s cricket team after enduring a heartbreak at last year’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham where they ended up with the silver medal after losing to Australia.
Mrs Nita Ambani, founder and chairperson of Reliance Foundation, congratulated the Indian women’s team on winning gold at the Asian Games 2022. This has been a remarkable year for women’s cricket in India, starting with the spirited performance of the team in the T20 WC, followed by the historic WPL and now the achievement at the Asian Games.
“Congratulations, Team India! What a golden debut at the Asian Games 2022! You have made the country proud and inspired generations to come with your historic win. Our women’s team has shown once again that with the right support, belief, and collective spirit, our girls are unstoppable,” Mrs Ambani said.
On a pitch difficult for batting, the Indian women’s team struggled to 116 for seven but it was just about par score. Smriti Mandhana (46 off 45 balls), who hit four boundaries and a six, along with Jemimah Rodrigues (42 off 40 balls), added 73 runs for the second wicket. In order to counter the slowness, both Mandhana and Rodrigues used the sweep shot with some degree of success.
Harmanpreet’s lack of match time was evident as she struggled during her short stay. But in the end, the total was enough to ensure a second gold medal of the Games.
Later, young Indian pacer Titas Sadhu bowled a devastating first spell and returned superb figures of 6 for 3 in 4 overs, playing a massive role in restricting Sri Lanka to 97 for eight in 20 overs. Leg-spinner Devika Vaidya (4-0-15-1) also kept a tight leash on the islanders while left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad (3-0-20-2) and off-spinner Deepti Sharma (4-0-25-1) were also on target during the back-end.
(With PTI Inputs)
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