India and Sri Lanka will feature in the final of the 2022 Asian Games at Hangzhou, China on 25 September 2023. The winner of the contest will take the Gold medal, while the loser will have to contend with a Silver medal.
The losing semi-finalists, Bangladesh and Pakistan, will battle it out for the Bronze Medal on the same day.
This is India's maiden appearance in the competition, while Sri Lanka are participating for the second time. They won a Bronze in the 2014 Asian Games at Incheon, South Korea.
Women's cricket has featured in the Asian Games on two occasions before. In 2010, Pakistan won the Gold medal by beating Bangladesh by 10 wickets. In 2014, they repeated the feat against the same opponents, though by a margin of just four runs.
Though India and Bangladesh suffered a washout in their respective encounters in the quarter-finals, they qualified for the semi-finals based on higher seeding. While not a single ball was bowled in the Bangladesh-Hong Kong game due to a rainout, India were able to get some game time against Malaysia.
After winning the toss, Bangladesh skipper Nigar Sultana elected to bat first. However, Pooja Vastrakar showed top form in her new-ball partnership with Titas Sadhu and rattled the Bangladesh innings.
They lost four wickets in the powerplay overs and never recovered from this start. Tight work in the field and disciplined bowling ensured that India bowled out Bangladesh for 51. This is their lowest-ever T20I total against India. Vastrakar finished with figures of 4/17, which was her career-best performance.
Chasing a modest target of 52, India were rattled early on when skipper Smriti Mandhana fell to Marufa Akter in the fourth over. But steady batting from Jemimah Rodriguez (20*) and Shafali Verma (17) ensured that India crossed the line in the ninth over.
While Pakistan qualified for the semi-finals at the back of a washout, Sri Lanka beat Thailand by eight wickets in a rain-affected quarter-final.
Chamari Athapaththu won the toss and chose to field. Carrying the spirit of their recent T20I triumph against England, Sri Lanka dominated the proceedings with the ball. A 19-run stand between Shawaal Zulfiqar (16) and Omaima Sohail (10) was the best that Pakistan could muster in their batting effort.
Regular strikes from Udeshika Prabodhani (3/21), Kavisha Dilhari (2/15), Achini Kulasuriya (1/7) and others meant that Pakistan were restricted to 75/9.
Pakistan struck back with the ball, removing Athapaththu in the fourth over. Diana Baig had the aggressive Anushka Sanjeewani caught in the final over of the powerplay, and the game opened up when Sri Lanka lost another wicket in the eighth over.
However, a patient 35-run stand between Harshitha Samarawickrama (23) and Nilakshi de Silva (18*) helped Sri Lanka to a confident six-wicket win.
(icc-cricket.com)
