The Indian women’s cricket team led by Harmanpreet Kaur won the country’s second gold medal at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou on Monday. Opting to bat first, India posted 116/7 in 20 overs at the ZJUT Cricket Field. Sri Lanka fought hard but fell short by 19 runs which meant India won their first cricket gold at the Asian Games, participating for the first time.
India came into the tournament as favourites, having dominated the Asia Cup editions of the past and ranked highest among all the teams. The conditions were tricky on Monday, though and it required them to be careful in their approach. The pitch threw up puffs of dust often, and so Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues went steady in their second wicket partnership to take India to a fighting score.
In response, India needed a disciplined bowling and effort and it was led by a young pacer in Titas Sadhu. The U19 World Cup-winning cricketer from Bengal, who was the player of the final in India’s winning campaign earlier this year, picked up two wickets in her first over. Then came the decisive point where Titas dismissed Sri Lankan captain Chamari Athapaththu for her third and the Indian celebrations after that wicket showed how much it meant to them.
Titas Sadhu in action against Sri Lanka (Twitter)
Titas finished with 4-1-6-3 and in a nice piece of symmetry, in the ICC Women’s Under-19 T20 World Cup final she had figures of 4-0-6-2 to concede just 12 runs in the 8 overs she has bowled in two major finals she has played in.
गणेशोत्सव में आयोजित किया गया स्वास्थ्य जांच शिविर सैंकड़ों लोगों को जांचा गया स्वास्थ्य, दांत व आंखे
Even after Athapaththu’s wicket, there was a fight from Sri Lanka as they kept picking up occasional boundaries to stay in the hunt. But India held their nerves with regular wickets and in the end the game was all but sealed before the last over.
There could have been questions about India opting to bat, playing into Sri Lanka’s strengths. Even India’s batting approach was on the conservative side. But they read the conditions well today, with the pitch deteriorating as the day went along. One would have to say both were right calls looking back.
India had earlier gotten past Malaysia and defeated Bangladesh to reach the title clash under Smriti Mandhana’s captaincy. Returning from suspension, Harmanpreet Kaur led the side in the final.
Having the favourites tag is one thing, but actually having the medal around your neck is completely different. And for that, you have to go through the process of doing the right things. India have to play to their potential, no one will be giving it to them easily. The way we play against Australia, we need to keep improving that in all matches, improving our standards. This tournament, if India can win the gold, will help us to build forward. Having that gold medal will be a big boost.”
Indeed so, India did what was expected of them and have brought home the gold.