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'Tiranga lehra hai China ki jameen mai' - Fans react as India women's cricket team wins gold in Asian Games 2023, beat Sri Lanka in final

India Women beat Sri Lanka Women by 19 runs in the final of 2023 Asian Games cricket competition to clinch the gold medal.

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Daniel S
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Asian Games 2023 final

Asian Games 2023 final (Source: Twitter)

The Indian women's cricket team scripted history in China by defeating Sri Lanka in the final of the 2023 Asian Games to clinch the gold medal. Titas Sadhu’s three-fer and a brilliant partnership between skipper Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues helped India win by 19 runs at the Pingfeng Campus Cricket Field in Hangzhou on Monday, September 25.

Electing to bat first, India Women lost the wicket of opener Shafali Verma early on. However, Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues steadied the ship with a 73-run partnership for the second wicket. Sri Lanka pulled things back by removing well-set Mandhana for 46 off 45, and two overs later with the wicket of Richa Ghosh (9 off 6). Rodrigues (42 off 40) hung in there till the final over, but the Lankan bowlers kept on picking up wickets towards the end.

There were no valuable contributions from skipper Harmanpreet Kaur as well. Udeshika Prabodhani, Sugandika Kumari and Inoka Ranaweera claimed two wickets each in the process of restricting India Women to 116-7 in 20 overs. India went into the second innings without much tension for the target as the pitch was bowling-friendly, assisting the spinners more.

Titas Sadhu broke the backbone of the Lankan batting unit

However, it was 18-year-old Titas Sadhu who stole the limelight with her three-wicket haul that destroyed the Sri Lankan top order. Her spell of 4-1-6-3 broke the backbone of the opposition. Sadhu's first saw the dismissal of opener Anushka Sanjeewani and Vishmi Gunaratne. In the next over, she got rid of Lankan captain Chamari Athapaththu and left them reeling at 14 for 3 in 4.2 overs.

Middle-order batters Hasini Perera and Nilakshi de Silva tried to build a brief partnership of 36 runs, but Rajeshwari Gayakwad removed the former at the right time. Sri Lanka could not rise from that position and were eventually reduced to 97-8 in 20 overs. Gayakwad claimed two wickets, while Devika Vaidya, Pooja Vastrakar and Deepti Sharma took one wicket each.

Remarkably, this was India's second gold medal of the day - surely a proud moment for all Indians. Meanwhile, India's men's team will begin their 2023 Asian Games campaign on October 3 under the leadership of Ruturaj Gaikwad.

Here's how fans reacted to India women's cricket team winning gold in Asian Games 2023: 

India Sri lanka Asian Games Asian Games 2023 India women