Women’s T20 Asia Cup final preview: India eye record eighth title against gritty Sri Lanka

Women’s T20 Asia Cup final preview: India eye record eighth title against gritty Sri Lanka


Dubai: Seven-time champions India are looking to add one more Asia Cup title to their cabinet as they take on Sri Lanka in the final on Sunday. While both teams have gone unbeaten so far on their road to the final, India will be wary of the gritty Sri Lanka side, which handed them a crushing eight-wicket defeat in the previous edition’s final in 2024. As the two sides are determined to lock horns in a finale deemed closely contested, the margins look narrow, though the big names are evident.

Shafali Verma and Deepti Sharma will be the two players India will look to once again as they take on a resilient Sri Lanka side. With 168 runs, including two fifties, Shafali has not only been India’s best batter but also the leading run-scorer in this iteration of the continental event. Shafali has maintained consistency with the bat on the slow, spin-friendly wickets at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. More importantly, Shafali has stepped up with ease in games where others around her have struggled.

Deepti, the tournament’s leading wicket-taker alongside Sri Lanka skipper Chamari Athapaththu with 11 wickets each, has been at the forefront of India’s bowling attack. The senior Indian all-rounder has been a key presence with the bat, becoming instrumental in pushing the total while batting lower down the order. With Shree Charani in the mix and Prema Rawat also finding her rhythm, Deepti leads the all-important spin attack, which has so far played a dominant role in the tournament.

Coming back off a victory against Pakistan in the semi-final, Chamari Athapaththu’s side are oozing with confidence, having displayed a formidable mentality in a crisis to sail past the line. Being reduced to 5/2 inside the first two overs and slipping further to 33/4 in the seventh, Sri Lanka did not give up the chase of 131. Harshitha Samarawickrama, who top-scored with 36 to put Sri Lanka back on track, is a familiar face for India. Harshitha had teamed up with Athapaththu to defy India in the final two years ago, with both the Sri Lankan batters hitting half-centuries in a tall run chase.

With most of the players from the 2024 final finding themselves in the summit clash once again, Harmanpreet Kaur’s team would be determined to succeed, but some major concerns arise over the collective batting form and sloppy fielding. Keeping aside Shafali’s form and Smriti Mandhana’s century two games ago, India would still need more from their other batters who have regularly failed to convert starts, along with a failure to find boundaries regularly. Fielding remains a major concern, with India dropping crucial catches against Bangladesh and Pakistan, bringing the total to nine dropped chances in four matches so far. Given both teams' strengths and weaknesses, the final encounter promises to be a tightly contested fixture either way.

India Squad:
Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Bharti Fulmali, Richa Ghosh (wk), Gunalan Kamalini (wk), Pratika Rawal, Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Kranti Gaud, Prema Rawat, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh Thakur, Nandani Sharma, Shree Charani, Radha Yadav.

Sri Lanka Squad:
Chamari Athapaththu (c), Harshitha Samarawickrama (vc), Imesha Dulani, Vishmi Gunaratne, Kaushini Nuthyangana (wk), Sanjana Kavindi, Hasini Perera, Nilakshika Silva, Kavisha Dilhari, Mithali Ayodhya, Kawya Kavindi, Sugandika Kumari, Nimasha Meepage, Chamudi Praboda, Chethana Vimukhti.

Match starts at 8:00pm IST.
(With inputs from PTI).