‘Badhai ho sabko’ – Fans react to Indian women’s cricket team winning gold medal in Asian Games 2023
India won the gold medal in cricket on its debut in Asian Games.
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Sep 25, 2023 4:32 pm
Harmanpreet Kaur was back at the helm as India faced Sri Lanka for the Gold Medal. It was the big cricket final in the Asian Games 2023. The Indian team had coasted to the final game with an easy win over Bangladesh.
Sri Lanka on the other hand was looking to win the gold medal after their third-place finish in 2014. The Sri Lankans had beaten Pakistan in the Semi-finals to book their place in the finals.
Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and chose to bat first. The match was played at the Pingfeng Campus Cricket Field at Hangzhou, China. So far teams chasing during the tournament have done well.
Asian games 2023 (source-Twitter)
Indian bowlers set up close win
Shafali Varma who was in prime form during the tournament couldn’t keep her form going. The youngster was out for just 9 runs after having faced 15 balls. Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues then added 73 runs for the 2nd wicket. The two batters kept the scoreboard ticking with their smart running between the wickets. The pitch wasn’t conducive for stroke play with boundaries hard to come by. The stand was broken when Mandhana was out for 48 off 45 balls with 4 fours and a six.
The onus of scoring runs fell on Jemimah Rodrigues who saw the other batters fall at regular intervals. Rodrigues was not out on 42 from 40 deliveries with 5 hits to the fence. India ended their innings with 116/7 on the board from their 20 overs. Chasing 117 to win, Sri Lanka began well with two fours in the first over off Deepti Sharma. The pitch though was playing differently with variable bounce. Titas Sadhu struck twice in her first over. Sadhu first dismissed Anushka Sanjeevani for 1 followed by V. Gunaratne for a duck.
The dangerous Chamari Athapaththu was out for 12 when she came to the third 3rd wicket of Titas Sadhu. Sri Lanka was suddenly 14/3, but there was a fight back thanks to the 36-run stand for the 4th wicket. H. Perera and D. De Silva were keeping the Indian bowlers frustrated. Gayakwad got the wicket of Perera for 25 off 22 balls with 4 fours and a six. Pooja Vastrakar then got the big wicket of N. De Silva to break the 28-run stand for the 5th wicket. De Silva was out-bowled for 23 as the onus was now on. Ranasinghe to win the game.
Indian bowlers kept things tight as the scoring rate reached above 10 runs per over. Deepti Sharma got the big wicket of Ranasinghe for 19. The match was done and dusted as India won thanks to their bowlers. India won the gold medal by beating Sri Lanka by 19 runs
Here’s how the fans reacted:
INDIA WON THE GOLD MEDAL IN CRICKET IN ASIAN GAMES….🇮🇳
Abhi bohot mehnat karni padegi hamari ladkiyon ko England aur Australia jaisa talent pull banane me. WPL is a great start. Future me hamari mahila team bhi utani mazboot hogi jitne Men's ki hai.
