Match Center

That's it then from this game but this is just the start of the competition. India Women have a long way to go in the Women's Asia Cup 2022 and their next match is against Malaysia Women. That game will be played on Monday, the 3rd of October and will start at 1 pm IST (7.30 am GMT) but our build-up will begin sooner. Do join us then. Take care and goodbye!

Jemimah Rodrigues (83 off 50 balls) is the PLAYER OF THE MATCH for her brilliant knock. Jemimah says that she is happy with the innings. Adds that for 6 months she did not play and it is important for her comeback. She then says that she would like to thank Mumbai because the conditions are similar to the ones here. Says that in Bangalore she made a similar wicket for practice as well. Ends by saying that they will take the positives and their bowlers bowled well.

India Women captain, Harmanpreet Kaur says they didn't start well with the ball but the two run-outs helped them and their bowlers too made a good comeback. She then commends Deepti Sharma for her all-round display. Adds that after losing two early wickets, they looked for partnerships and Jemimah Rodrigues played brilliantly and it was important for her as she was coming back from an injury. Mentions that after she herself got out, they fell 20 runs or so short of the target they looked for but it all worked out in the end.

Chamari Athapaththu, the skipper of Sri Lanka Women says that they lost a couple of wickets in quick succession, especially the run-outs hurt them. Adds that their bowlers did well but some bowlers gave away loose deliveries and credits Jemimah Rodrigues for the way she played on this pitch. Mentions that Harshitha Madavi is their future star and that is a good positive. Further says that the run-outs are a bit of a concern and they will try and improve in the next match.

The presentation ceremony...

Earlier in the game, Chamari Athapaththu won the toss and opted to field first on a bit of a turning track. This decision was well received by the Lankan bowlers early on and they got crucial wickets inside the Powerplay. It was then a brilliant partnership between Harmanpreet Kaur and Jemimah Rodrigues that put India Women in the driving seat with the latter going on to score her career-best 83 runs. Sri Lanka Women did well towards the back end of the first innings and kept India down to 150 runs. With the sun beating down, the track just got even better for the spinners which became evident as the game went on. The Indian spinners and fielding saw them pick up wickets at regular intervals and apart from Harshitha Madavi and Hasini Perera, no one really played well for Sri Lanka Women with the bat. In the end, it was a bridge too far for the Lankans.

Sri Lanka Women knew that India Women had quality spinners in their ranks and thus needed to attack the pacers early on. Harshitha Madavi did just that but their skipper, Chamari Athapaththu couldn't do the same. With Harshitha going greatly, a moment of indecision saw her being run-out and from then on, the Lankan innings kept on going downhill. Hasini Perera played really well in the middle order but there were just not many partnerships to help them get over the line.

India Women didn't have the best of starts with the ball as Renuka Singh was hammered in the very first over. The spinners also had a bit of a rough start but once Deepti Sharma got rid of Chamari Athapaththu, they were able to get on top of the batters. The bowling was good and there was enough turn on offer as well. The ground fielding and the catching both were superb as a couple of run-outs turned the game completely in favour of India Women. Deepti Sharma and Pooja Vastrakar both picked up a couple of wickets and Dayalan Hemalatha cleaned up the tail with three wickets of her own.

A rock-solid performance in the end from India Women in the field and they have started their Asia Cup campaign with a resounding win. Sri Lanka Women fought valiantly but have fallen well short of the target in the end.

OUT! STUMPED! That's it, Richa Ghosh whips off the bails and India Women have won the game. Dayalan Hemalatha tosses this one up nicely and pushes it outside off. Achini Kulasuriya dances down the track and completely loses her shape as she looks to go big downtown. Ghosh has all the time in the world to dislodge the bails and Sri Lanka Women have been bowled out for 109. India Women win by 41 runs!

Play and a miss! That was full, outside off. Achini Kulasuriya looks to go big but misses to get a bat.

Loopy ball, outside off. Inoka Ranaweera looks to work it to third man but misses to connect.

Loopy delivery, outside off. Inoka Ranaweera looks to drive that but gets an outside edge just short of first slip.

Full, on off. Achini Kulasuriya tucks it to deep mid-wicket.

Loopy ball, outside off. Achini Kulasuriya misses to get a bat to that.

Achini Kulasuriya is the last batter for Sri Lanka Women.

OUT! CAUGHT! Straight to the fielder and the wickets just keep on tumbling. On a length and around off, Hasini Perera attempts the reverse sweep and connects it well. Perera though plays it uppishly and straight to Radha Yadav at point. Yadav makes no mistake and Deepti Sharma picks up her second wicket. Hasini Perera walks back after a good knock and India Women are now just one wicket away from victory.