India beat Sri Lanka for record 8th Women's Asia Cup title

couIndia produced a dominant performance to clinch a record eighth Women's Asia Cup title, beating Sri Lanka by 72 runs at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday.

After Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana set the platform with the bat, Shree Charani (4 for 20) and Deepti Sharma (3 for 19) produced a brilliant spell with the ball as India restricted Sri Lanka to 114 in 20 overs while defending 183.

Chasing 184, Sri Lanka appeared to be in contention at 62 for two after 9.3 overs, with captain Chamari Athapaththu leading the chase with a 36-run knock. However, her dismissal triggered a dramatic collapse, with Sri Lanka losing wickets in quick succession and eventually falling well short of the target as could muster only 111 in 20 overs.

Earlier, India's opening pair continued their remarkable run as they put together another record-breaking partnership.

Shafali smashed 68 off just 39 balls, hitting nine fours and two sixes, while Mandhana scored a fluent 59 off 39 balls, with five fours and three sixes. Shafali reached her half-century in just 24 balls — the fastest fifty in Women's Asia Cup history — surpassing Mandhana's 25-ball effort against Sri Lanka in the 2022 edition.

The knock was Shafali's third fifty-plus score of the tournament, making her only the second player after Athapaththu in Sri Lanka's victorious 2024 campaign to register three such scores in a single Women's Asia Cup edition.

Shafali also finished as the tournament's leading run-scorer, accumulating 236 runs in five innings at an average of 47.20 and a staggering strike rate of 171.01. She registered three fifties, with 68 being her highest score.

The opening duo's 129-run partnership was another major milestone. It became the highest opening partnership in Women's Asia Cup history, surpassing the 128-run stand between Jemimah Rodrigues and Deepti Sharma against the UAE in the 2022 edition.

It was also the highest partnership in the final of any women's T20I tournament, eclipsing the 120-run stand between West Indies stars Hayley Matthews and Stafanie Taylor against Australia in the 2016 Women's T20 World Cup final.

Mandhana and Shafali have now shared six 100-plus partnerships in Women's T20Is, equalling UAE's Esha Oza and Theertha Satish for the most century stands by a pair in the format.

Their overall numbers are equally remarkable. Across 105 innings together, Mandhana and Shafali have accumulated 3,909 runs at an average of 38.32 and a scoring rate of 8.26 runs per over. They have six century stands and 24 fifty-plus partnerships.

No other pair has crossed 3,000 runs in Women's T20Is. Among the 14 pairs to have scored at least 1,500 runs together, none has scored at more than eight runs per over.

India won the toss and elected to bat first. After the record 129-run opening stand, however, the middle order struggled to maintain the momentum. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur made 14 off 14 balls, while Richa Ghosh scored 17 off 13.

A late cameo from Bharti Fulmali, who smashed an unbeaten 15 off just five balls with a four and a six, helped India finish on 183 for five in their 20 overs.

For Sri Lanka, Mithali Ayodhya was the most successful bowler with 1/33 from four overs, while Athapaththu returned figures of 1/34.

India's emphatic victory secured their record eighth Women's Asia Cup title.

With inputs from ANI