Hangzhou, China, September 25, 2023: India broke new ground on Monday when its women cricketers won the gold medal on their debut appearance at the Asian Games.
India scored 116 for seven before restricting Sri Lanka to 97 for eight and winning the final by 19 runs.
“This is absolutely amazing for this is the first time we are playing cricket where our performance means more than just winning,” said India's star batsman Smriti Mandhana, who top-scored with a sublime 46.
“At a cricket world cup, for instance, or any other tournament, winning means just for Indian cricket. Here we are contributing to the gold medal tally of our country at the Asian Games. This is so special and very satisfying,” said Mandhana.
At last year’s Birmingham Commonwealth Games, Australia denied India the gold in the women’s cricket competition. They were not to be denied again in a gold medal match.
“I suppose there are nerves every time you play in a final. But this time we were more excited than nervous. We wanted to win a gold medal and contribute to Team India,” Mandhana added.
It was India’s second gold at the Hangzhou Asian Games. Earlier in the day, the men’s shooting team had won the gold medal in the 10m Air Rifle event.
And on hand to present the gold medal to captain Harmsnpreet Kaur and her team was OCA Acting President Raja Randhir Singh, himself a proud Indian and former Asian Games champion in shooting.
“This is a special moment for me. I’m very proud and it is an honour to present the gold medal to the Indian women's team,” said Singh.
“Cricket is my favourite sport, of course next to shooting, and it was fantastic to see India win. But my congratulations also go out to Sri Lanka. They played well,” added Singh, who was accompanied by OCA Acting Director General Vinod Kumar Tiwari.
India chose to bat after winning the toss. Mandhana led the way with a composed 46 while Jemimah Rodrigues made 42 as a second-wicket partnership of 73 laid the foundation for a big score. But no other Indian batsman reached double figures as Sri Lanka’s spinners fought back.
From a healthy 89 for one in the 15th over – at which point Mandhana was dismissed – Sri Lanka conceded only 27 runs in the remaining five overs while taking five more wickets to restrict India to 116 for seven.
But the dismissal of talismanic Sri Lanka skipper Chamari Attapatthu early in the run chase was a huge blow to the islanders, and wickets fell regularly as they limped to 97 for eight in their 20 overs.
“I felt getting 117 runs was quite achievable. But I should have been out there for at least 10 to 12 overs. Unfortunately I got out early and, even though the others tried their best, we couldn’t make it in the end,” said a dejected Attapatthu.
“It’s very disappointing we couldn’t win the gold. While a silver medal is still good, our real target was the gold. But Smriti (Mandhana) played a brilliant knock and unfortunately none of us could quite match that performance,” Attapatthu added.
Bangladesh won the bronze medal defeating Pakistan by five wickets.
